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—.    ifel 


THE 


STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 


THE 


ISSUES  AND  CANDIDATES 


OF  THE 


PRESENT   POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN : 


CONTAINING 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF  ALL  THE  CANDIDATES  FOR  PRESIDENT 
AND  VICE-PRESIDENT;  HISTORY  AND  PLATFORMS  OF  THE  GREAT 
POLITICAL  PARTIES  ;   FACTS  ABOUT  PUBLIC  MEN  AND  MEAS 
URES ;    REVIEW  OF  GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATION;    THE 
QUEER  RECORD  OF  HORACE  GREELEY. 


BY 


EVERETT  CHAMBERLIN. 


EMBELLISHED  WITH   MANY  PORTRAITS  AND   HUMOROUS   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

4, 


UNION  PUBLISHING  COMPANY: 

165  TWENTY-SECOND  STREET,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

26  SOUTH  SEVENTH  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  CO.,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

1872. 


.  7~u 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872, 

BY  E.  S.  DE  GOLYER, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


STEAM    PRESS   OF 

OTTAWAY,  BROWN  &  COLBERT, 
7  &  Q  S.  Jefferson  St.,  Chicago. 


A.    ZEESE    &    CO 

KLECTROTYPERS, 

Chicago. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  Republican  party  of  the  United  States  has  been  entrusted 
with  the  management  of  the  national  affairs  since  1861 — a  pe 
riod  of  nearly  three  successive  Presidential  terms.  During  that 
period  this  party  has  had  to  meet  and  overcome,  at  almost 
every  step  of  its  progress,  political  difficulties  more  serious  than 
any  which  the  nation  has  ever  known  before  since  its  birth  ;  and 
it  has  met  them  with  a  success  which  has  won  the  admiration  of 
the  world.  And  so  completely  has  the  world  identified  the 
Republican  party  with  the  stability  and  dignity  of  the  nation? 
that  the  prospects  of  its  success  or  defeat  in  pending  elections 
have  regulated  the  upward  or  downward  tendencies  of  the  na 
tional  securities,  and  such  other  indices  as  serve  to  show  the 
estimation  in  which  a  country  is  held  abroad. 

During  the  most  of  the  years  referred  to,  the  Republican  party 
has  enjoyed  a  complete  and  undisputed  supremacy  in  all  the 
branches  of  the  government — a  condition  of  things  very  trying 
to  the  virtue  of  a  political  party.  It  is  now  threatened  with  a 
serious  schism,  brought  about  by  men,  some  of  whom  have  been 
reckoned  among  our  best  statesmen  and  publicists,  and  sympa 
thized  in  by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  thoughtful  and  con 
servative  classes  of  the  population,  the  avowed  object  of  this 
schism  being  the  reformation  of  serious  abuses  alleged  to  exist 
in  the  administration  of  the  government  and  the  theories  of 
legislation. 

Is  there  sufficient  cause  to  be  found  in  the  existing  condi- 

(5) 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

tion  of  things  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  the  installation  of  a  new  dynasty,  to  be  built  chiefly  of  the 
material  of  the  long-dishonored  Democratic  party — founded, 
however,  upon  principles,  or  at  least  upon  platforms,  furnished 
by  the  disaffected  Republicans  ?  To  answer  this  question,  or 
rather  to  furnish  the  reader  with  material  with  which  to  answer 
it  for  himself,  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  volume.  In  the 
pages  which  follow,  the  reader  will  find,  among  other  things,  a 
HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  with  the  issues  it  has 
made  and  the  positions  which  it  has  taken,  from  its  origin  to 
the  present  time ;  also  a  HISTORY  OF  THE  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY, 
particularly  during  the  years  when  its  history  has  been  contem 
poraneous  with  that  of  the  Republican  party ;  also  sketches  of 
the  life  and  character  of  the  several  CANDIDATES  FOR  PRESI 
DENT  AND  VICE  PRESIDENT;  also,  since  the  main  question  of 
next  November  is  whether  or  not  we  shall  have  another  term 
of  President  Grant's  administration,  a  brief,  though  we  trust  an 
acceptably  comprehensive  view  of  the  salient  points  of  his  first 
term,  so  far  as  it  is  past ;  also  many  other  facts  and  ideas  perti 
nent  to  the  present  exciting  canvass,  and  such  as  the  voter 
will  naturally  like  to  peruse,  and  lay  away  for  reference.  In 
short,  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  author  (or  compiler,  if  you 
please)  of  this  book,  to  furnish  a  useful  compendium  of  facts 
and  points  for  the  campaign.  Though  the  reader  may  discover 
in  the  manner  of  putting  things  a  bias  in  favor  of  that  which 
now  is,  he  will  not,  it  is  hoped,  encounter  any  misstatement  of 
fact.  The  book  is  illustrated  with  portraits  and  cartoons,  which 
have  their  own  peculiar  momentary  interest,  and  for  which  the 
artist  alone  must  have  the  credit,  whatever  it  may  be. 

Chicago,  July,  1872.  E.  C. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE   STRUGGLE  OF  '72, Frontispiece. 

CLASPING   HANDS,.. _ _._  37 

PORTRAIT  OF  HAMILTON  FISH, 57 

"     MATT.    H.  CARPENTER, _ 77 

"     CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS, 97 

"  "     GENL.  U.   S.   GRANT, no 

"     RICHARD  J.    OGLESBY, 157 

"    GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL, 177 

"  "     ELIHU  B.  WASHBURN, 197 

"    CHARLES  SUMNER, 237 

SHAKSPERE  ON  THE  DEMOCRATIC  SITUATION, 277 

PORTRAIT  OF  LYMAN   TRUMBULL, 317 

THE  Two  HORACES, 337 

DROP  THOSE  PLANKS, 357 

PORTRAIT  OF  HORACE  GREELEY, 410 

JANUS  GREELEY, 437 

FARMER  GREELEY  TRIMMING  HIS  TREES,. 457 

THE  FAMILY   RIDE, 477 

HENRY   WILSON, .530 

B.   GRATZ  BROWN, — .- 539 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY. 

Its  Origin  and  Organization — The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1856 — 
The  First  Platform — The  Fremont  Campaign — Lecompton — A  Pro- 
Slavery  Constitution — The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates  of  1858,  Etc.  -..19 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE   SAME,    CONTINUED. 

The  Chicago  Convention  of  1860 — Nomination  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin 
— The  Platform — The  Canvass — Success  of  the  Republicans — The 
South  Belligerent — President  Lincoln's  Inaugural  Address — His  Cabi 
net,  Etc 28 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

General  History  of  the  Party  During  the  War — Emancipation — The 
Amendments  to  the  Constitution — The  Campaign  of  1864 — The  Balti 
more  Platform — The  Cleveland  Convention — The  Democratic  Conven 
tion — The  Democratic  Convention  and  Platform — The  Canvass — The 
Death  of  President  Lincoln — Andrew  Johnson — His  Treachery  and 
Impeachment — Reconstruction  commenced —  40 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

The  Campaign  of  1868 — Nomination  of  Grant  and  Colfax  by  the  Re 
publicans — An  Easy  Triumph  Over  Seymour  and  Blair — Grant  in  the 
Presidential  Chair — Difficulties  which  he  Encountered — The  Ku-Klux 
and  the  Office  Seekers — Grant  Astonishes  the  Latter  by  his  Appoint 
ments — What  his  Administration  Accomplished 54 

(10) 


CONTENTS.  I  I 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

The  Campaign  of  1872 — Action  of  the  Forty-Second  Congress  at  its 
Second  Session — $60,000,000  Taxes  Taken  Off — Amnesty  Extended 
Greatly — Force  Bill  Discontinued — The  House  Votes  to  Abolish  the 
Franking  Privilege — Everything  Investigated — Call  for  a  National 
Convention — Spirit  of  the  Party — Unanimous  for  Grant — The  Con 
vention  is  Held — Its  Doings  in  Detail — Harmony  and  Enthusiasm — 
Platform  of  1872 — Grant's  Letter  Accepting  the  Nomination 66 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

The  Legislation  of  the  Republican  Party,  State  and  National — Sketch  of 
Some  of  the  More  Prominent  Acts  of  Congress — The  Constitutional 
Amendments — A  Brief  Resume  of  All 102 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ULYSSES   S.    GRANT — HIS   MILITARY    CAREER. 

Early  New  England  Ancestry — "Blood  will  tell" — Birth  of  Ulysses — 
Boyhood— Life  at  West  Point— His  Part  in  the  Mexican  War— A 
Brilliant  Record — Twice  Brevetted  for  Bravery  and  Efficiency  in 
Battle — Becomes  a  Captain  and  A.  Q.  M. — Marries  and  Resigns — An 
Uneventful  Interval — The  Long  Roll  Sounds  Again in 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Volunteers — Brigadier  General — His 
Fellows  of  that  Rank — Captures  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson — Is  Pro 
moted  to  Major  General— Battle  of  Shiloh .124 

CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Rank  in  Command— Corinth  Captured— Battle  of  luka— Desperate 
Fighting  at  Corinth — The  Rebels  Out-Generaled — Grant  as  an  Ad 
ministrator — Vicksburg  Striven  After — Two  Unsuccessful  Attempts  to 
Reach  it — Grant  "Takes  the  Responsibility,"  and  Wins  the  Most 
Decisive  Victory  of  the  War 141 


1 2  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Re-organization  of  the  Army — The  Slaves  Emancipated — The  Second 
Campaign  against  Vicksburg — Difficulties  by  Water — Porter  runs  the 
Gauntlet  with  his  Gunboats — Attack  on  Grand  Gulf— Battle  of  Port 
Gibson — Vicksburg  Described — Feints — The  Battles  of  Champion 
Hills — The  Town  Invested — The  Grand  Assault — The  Outer  Works 
Carried — The  Rebel  Commander  Capitulates — "Unconditional  Sur 
render"  Again — Vicksburg  and  its  Spoils — Port  Hudson  Too — The 
Victor's  Crown 161 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Grant  Busies  Himself  with  Administration — Is  Promoted  to  the  Com 
mand  of  Four  Armies — Prepares  to  Attack  Bragg  at  Lookout  Moun 
tain — Plan  of  the  Battle — A  Dashing  Assault — Grant  "Refuses  to  be 
Embarrassed" — The  Battle  Above  the  Clouds — A  Mighty  Charge — 
Phil.  Sheridan  Distinguishes  Himself — Victory — Its  Trophies — Grati 
tude  of  the  Nation 183 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Created  Lieutenant  General — Goes  to  Washington  to  Receive  his  Com 
mission — Two  Memorable  Speeches — Grant  Takes  Command — With 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac — In  the  Wilderness — How  he  Kept  Flank 
ing  Lee — An  Alert  Enemy — The  Assault  Upon  Petersburg — A  Fail 
ure — The  Winter,  and  How  it  Was  Passed — The  End  Near — Grant 
Discovers  his  Antagonist's  Purpose,  and  Thwarts  Him — Sheridan 
"Pushes  Things" — Lee  Surrounded — He  Surrenders — Collapse  of  the 
Confederacy 195 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT. 

Difficulties  Encountered  on  his  Induction  to  the  Chair  of  State — General 
Policy  of  the  Administration — The  Will  of  the  People  Supreme — 
Economy  the  Rule — Some  Figures — Grant  and  the  Civil  Service — Im 
portant  Reforms — Grant  Amnesty — Policy  toward  the  Colored  Race 
— The  Treaty  with  England — History  of  the  Negotiations — Grant's 
Indian  Policy — The  Olive  Branch  Armed  with  a  Switch .219 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

Grant  and  the  Workingmen — Grant  and  Education — The  Postal  Tele- 
graph  System — Grant  and  the  Colored  Race — Down  with  Polygamy — 
Grant  the  Immigrant's  Friend — Messages  in  their  Behalf — Rights  of 
Naturalized  Citizens — The  Houard  Hubbub — Grant  and  San  Domingo 
— How  would  Greeley  have  Worked  it  ? — Grant  and  the  Veto  Power — 
Legislative  Jobbery — Simmer's  Vile  Insinuations — Is  the  White  House 
a  Military  Headquarters? — Summer  Put  Down  with  a  Plain  Tale — 
Greeley's  Tributes  to  Grant 247 

CHAPTER  XV. 

GRANT    AS    A    MAN. 

Some  Personal  Traits — A  Glance  at  the  White  House — The  President's. 
Daily  Programme — Grant's    Personal  Appearance — His  Habits — His 
Conversation — A  Little  Story — His  Mental  and  Moral  Qualities — A 
Friendly  Portrait — How  the  Painter  Came  Afterward  to  be  Unfriendly 
— Grant  and  Sumner  Contrasted _ 269 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

GRANT  AND  THE  COLORED  RACE. 

The  Real  Question  for  the  Colored  Man's  Consideration — Grant's  Record 
as  to  Treatment  of  Negroes — Early  Orders,  Letters,  Etc. — He 
Shuts  Down  at  Donelson  upon  Fugitive  Slave  Hunters — Issues  Prac 
tical  Military  Orders  in  Behalf  of  Freedmen  in  Advance  of  the  Govern 
ment — Organizes  the  First  Freedmen's  Bureau — Encourages  the 
Formation  of  Negro  Regiments — Favors  a  Negroes'  Paradise  at 
Milliken's  Bend — His  Expressions  as  President — Appointments  of 
Colored  Men  to  Office,  Etc... 285 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT. 

How  and  When  it  Originated — The  Grand  Hobby — Attempt  to  Split 
the  Republican  Party  in  1868 — Trumbull's  Backbone  Stiffened — A 
Regular  Seige — Approaching  the  Citadel  by  Parallels — Sumner's 
Grievance — His  Ejection  from  the  Senate  Foreign  Affairs  Committee 
— A  General  Misunderstanding — How  it  Happened — The  Civil  Ser 
vice  Purists — The  Bee  in  Trumbull's  Bonnet — The  Newspaper  Ring — 
"We  Four  and  No  More." 305 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

The  Ring  Reinforced — Greeley  gets  a  Bee  in  his  Bonnet,  too — The  Pos 
sum  Policy  of  the  Democrats — The  Blair  Family  Smell  the  Battle  Afar 
0ff_The  Movement  Begins  in  Missouri — Some  of  the  Pioneers — Sore 
heads — The  Cincinnati  Convention  Called — The  Response — The  Spring 
Elections — The  Democracy  Weakens  Perceptibly — Greeley  Smiles  upon 
the  Movement 321 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION. 

The  Place— Gathering  of  the  Clans— No  Concert  of  Action— The  Tariff 
Question — The  Rival  Candidates — Greeley's  Name  Received  with 
Daughter — The  Davis  Hordes — Caucuses  of  the  Syndicate — Opening  of 
the  Convention — A  Side  Show — Row  in  the  New  York  Delegation — 
How  Greeley's  Strikers  Captured  that  Body — Flank  Movements — A 
Woman  in  the  Case — Trouble,  of  Course — A  Turbulent  Session — 
Permanent  Organization — Carl  Schurz's  Speech — Good  Advice  which 
was  Not  Followed 330 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    SAME,    CONTINUED. 

"The  Apple  of  Discord" — Struggle  Over  the  Tariff — The  Temporary 
President  Demands  a  Free  Fight — Reformers  Beaten  on  Both  Candi 
date  and  Platform — The  Balloting  for  President — Blair's  Game — 
Arrival  of  Gratz  Brown — Greeley  Forging  Ahead — Schurz  Denounces 
Him  Before  the  Missouri  Delegation — White  Might  Have  Saved  His 
Own  Humiliation,  but  Did  Not — Greeley  Nominated  and  Blair 
Triumphant — Brown  Also — Chagrin  of  the  Reformers — Their  Utter 
ances — Carl  Schurz  Plays  a  Plaintive  Air,  and  the  Curtain  Falls 367 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

HORACE    GREELEY. 

Birth  of  the  Hero — His  Youthful  Experiences — A  Statesman  in  Leading 
Strings — Almost  Drowned — The  Mystery  of  Ox-yoking  too  Great  for 
Him — Apprenticed  to  a  Printer — Migrates  to  New  York — Makes  an 
impression  upon  a  Boss  Printer — Begins  to  Develop  his  Eccentricities 
— His  Grahamite  Experience — An  Eating  Exploit  not  Down  in  Gra- 


CONTENTS.  15 

ham's  Bill  of  Fare — Divers  Instructive  Anecdotes — Rise  of  the 
"Tribune" — Greeley's  Characteristics  as  a  Journalist — What  Horace 
White  Said  of  Him — Greeley  Travels — His  Imprisonment  at  Paris.. 410 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE. 

The  Sage  of  Lackawaxen — He  Espouses  the  Philosophy  of  Fourier — 
What  That  Means — Socialism  in  America — Greeley  as  its  Great 
Apostle — His  First  Bull  Run — "On  to  Lackawaxen" — His  Colony 
Fails  Miserably  and  Calls  the  Members  hard  Names — Greeley's  Utter 
ances  in  Favor  of  Communism — His  Discussion  with  Raymond 441 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GREELEY    AS    A    POLITICIAN. 

His  Political  Life  Chacterized — Greeley's  First  Experience  at  "Relegat 
ing" — The  Tippecanoe  Campaign — The  Clay  Fiasco— "Isms"  of  the 
Philosopher — In  Congress — His  Career  as  a  Legislator — The  Partner 
ship  with  Seward  and  Weed — Greeley  Indignantly  Withdraws — Cause 
of  his  Wrath — The  Famous  Seward  Letter — Greeley  Favors  Secession 
— Defeats  Seward  at  Chicago  — The  War  Comes  On — "Forward  to 
Richmond  !" — Thorning  Lincoln — The  Cleveland  Convention — "Any 
body  to  beat  Lincoln" — Greeley  Winks  at  the  Movement — The  Niagara 
Falls  Affair — Greeley  Hobnobs  with  Bogus  Rebel  Commissioners — 
Blames  Lincoln  and  Misrepresents  Him — Noble  Letter  of  the  Martyr 
President — The  War  Ended — Greeley  Does  go  On  to  Richmond — 
What  He  Does  There — Indignation  of  the  Public — Greeley's  Opinion 
of  Himself  and  Other  Presidency-Hunters — Greeley  and  Tammany. -.459 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

GREELEY    AS    A    BOOK    FARMER. 

A  Chapter  Consisting  of  what  Mr.  Greeley  Knows  about  Farming,  and 
which,  therefore,  has  Nothing  In  It 490 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

IS    HE    FIT  ? 

Traits  of  Horace  Greeley's  Character — For  what  His  Genius  Fits  him — 
For  what  it  Does  Not — How  an  Honest  Man  Can  Do  Dishonest  Acts 


1 6  CONTENTS. 

— Some  Faults  and  How  they  Might  be  Cured — Can  the  Country 
Afford  it?— How  his  One-Term  Theory  Kills  His  Own  Chances— H. 
G.,  his  Plea  at  the  Jubilee — H.  G.,  as  an  Administrator — Eleven 
Specific  Points — Wm.  C.  Bryant's  Portraiture  of  Greeley 498 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY. 

Its  Record  During  and  Since  the  War — Some  Nice  Tidbits  from  the 
History  of  Greeley's  Present  Allies — The  Essence  of  their  Policy  Then 
the  Same  as  Now — A  Democratic  Club  of  500,000— Greeley's  New 
York  Associates — Who  and  What  They  Are — Greeley  the  Ring  Candi 
da1^ — That  Good  Honest  Soul — What  he  has  Promised  to  do  for 
Them — Frank  Blair  as  Painted  by  H.  G. — The  Southern  Aristocrats, 
Ditto — Some  of  Greeley's  Western  Friends — Democratic  Record  on 
Financial  Question — On  Congressional  Abuses  — The  Original  Nomi 
nator  of  H.  G. — He  Favors  Repudiation  of  the  Yankee  War  Debt 
and  a  Return  of  Negroes  to  Slavery — A  Question  by  H.  G.  in  1864 — 
Will  he  Answer  it  in  1872? 507 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

THE    BALTIMORE    CONVENTION. 

Its  Composition — A  Cut  and  Dried  Affair — To  Nominate  or  to  Endorse  ? 
That  is  the  Question — Organization — "Dixie"  for  Music — Greeley 
Swallowed — Likewise  the  Cincinnati  Platform — Delaware,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Georgia,  Remonstrate  in  Vain — A  Sudden  Adjournment 524 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

HENRY    WILSON. 

His  Humble  Birth — Apprenticed  to  a  Fanner — Learns  the  Shoemaker's 
Trade  After  Becoming  twenty-one — Pursues  an  Academical  Course 
After  That — Becomes  a  Stump  Orator — Great  Success — Enters  Public 
Life — In  the  Legislature — An  Ardent  Free  Soiler — An  Editor  for  Two 
Years — Chosen  United  States  Senator  in  1855 — His  Career  in  the 
Senate — Challenged  by  Bully  Brooks — Service  on  the  Military  Commit 
tee — Joins  the  Army — His  Labors  for  the  Colored  Race — Why  He 
Would  Not  Join  the  Workingmen's  Party — An  Answer  Worth  Reading 
— A  Busy  Career _ ?3* 


CONTENTS  1 7 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

BENJAMIN    GRATZ    BROWN. 

Of  Aristocratic  Family — Graduates  at  Yale — Studies  Law — Moves  to  St. 
Louis — Cultivates  the  Germans — Goes  to  the  Legislature — Starts  the 
"Democrat" — Elected  to  the  United  States  Senate — Governor  of  Mis 
souri — ^^Characteristic  Traits — A  Habitual  Bolter  and  Extremist — 
How  heMoubled  on  his  Track  as  to  Amnesty — Brown  and  the  School- 
ma'ams — Some  of  his  Flights  Accounted  for 540 

APPENDIX. 

Greeley's   Letter   of    Acceptance — Henry  Wilson's   ditto — Scraps  fiom 
Greeley's   Paper— A  Secessionist  through    1860-61-62 — Converted  to 
Republicanism — Eulogizes  Grant's  Administration  Repeatedly — What 
the  Tribune  Said  for  Grant   in   1870  and    1871 — Sumner's  Falsehood 
Concerning    Stanton   Exposed — "  Bayonet  Legislation  " — Of  What  it 
Consists — The  New  Tax  Law — Burdens  Lifted  from  the  People — Elec 
tion  Statistics — National  and  State  Governments — Presidential  Tickets 
in    the  Field — Sumner  Rebuked    by    a  Fellow-Abolitionist — Greeley's 
Intrigues  with  the  Democracy — The  Two  Charges  against  Grant — Ne 
potism  - - 549 


HISTORY   OF  THE 


Party. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Its  Origin  and  Organization — The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1856 — The 
First  Platform — The  Fremont  Campaign — Lecompton — A  Pro-Slavery 
Constitution — The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates  of  1858,  Etc. 

IN  its  origin  the  Republican  party  was  a  develop 
ment  into  organized  form  of  the  principles  of  free 
dom.  In  its  organization  it  was  the  fusion  of  polit 
ical  elements  which  had  always  before  refused  to 
coalesce.  In  the  year  1852  there  were  three  par 
ties  in  the  Union,  presenting  three  presidential 
tickets  to  the  American  people.  These  were  the 
Democratic,  the  Whig,  and  the  Free  Soil  parties. 
In  that  year  the  Democratic  party  gained  an  over 
whelming  victory,  carrying  a  large  majority  of  the 
popular  suffrage,  and  all  the  votes  of  the  electoral 
college  except  those  of  Massachusetts,  Vermont, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  Under  this  crushing- 
defeat  the  Whig  party  was  destroyed. 

During  the  administration  of  President  Pierce, 

(19) 


2O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

who  had  been  elected  in  1852,  an  event  occurred 
which  greatly  aroused  the  country,  and  broke  up 
old  party  ties.  This  was  the  introduction  and  pas 
sage  by  Congress  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
repealing  the  famous  Missouri  Compromise  of 
1820.  Large  numbers  of  Democrats,  especially 
throughout  all  the  Northern  States,  refused  to  sus 
tain  this  measure,  and  the  Democratic  party,  so 
triumphant  in  1852,  almost  everywhere  met  with 
disastrous  defeat  in  the  elections  of  1854.  This 
defeat  would,  doubtless,  have  been  even  more  dis 
astrous  but  for  the  fact  that  the  disruption  of  par 
ties,  caused  by  the  elections  of  1852  and  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  Bill,  had  been  too  recent  to  allow  the 
organization  of  a  permanent  political  party.  There 
appears  to  be  a  temporary  necessity  for  a  "  make 
shift "  organization,  and  this  was  found  in  the  "Know 
Nothing"  party.  Of  a  narrow  creed  and  with 
secret  workings,  it  was  necessarily  of  short 
duration. 

Meantime,  the  anti-slavery  discussion  of  the 
Abolitionists  had  been  doing  its  perfect  work.  The 
Abolitionists  had  for  many  years  received  the 
hearty  moral  sympathies  of  many  of  the  purest 
and  ablest  men  in  the  old  Whig  and  Democratic 
parties.  The  literature  and  the  best  journalism  of 
the  country  were  long  thus  in  moral  sympathy  with 
what  was  generally  denounced  in  political  circles 
as  "crazy  fanaticism."  A  novel  of  great  literary 
merit  and  wonderful  popularity — Mrs.  Stowe's 
"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin" — had  taught  the  people  to 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  21 

believe  in  the  gross  political  immorality  of  slavery. 
And  hence  there  was  a  logical  fitness,  and  appar 
ent  national  necessity  for  the  formation  of  a  party 
to  be  built  upon  the  broad  basis  of  freedom.  And 
it  was  upon  this  broad  basis,  large  numbers  of  peo 
ple  being  now  ready  therefor,  that  the  Republican 
party  was  organized  early  in  1856.  The  applica 
tion  of  the  doctrine  was  not  in  the  abolition  of  sla 
very,  but  in  its  confinement  to  the  localities  in 
which  it  then  existed.  This  involved  no  breach  of 
fundamental  law,  and  tended  to  accomplish  two 
great  benefits:  First,  the  dedication  of  our  vast 
Western  domain  to  freedom  ;  secondly,  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  political  despotism  of  the  Slave  Power. 
The  first  great  triumph  of  the  party  was  in  the 
admission  of  Kansas  as  a  free  State ;  and  this  was 
a  most  refreshing  demonstration — that  the  political 
despotism  of  the  Slave  Power  had  received  a  mor 
tal  wound. 

FULLY  ORGANIZED  AT  PHILADELPHIA. 

But  before  this  the  party  had  been  regularly 
organized  in  national  convention.  Much,  also,  had 
been  done  toward  its  organization  in  some  of  the 
states  during  the  years  1854  and  1855.  Its  first 
national  convention  was  held  at  the  city  of  Pitts 
burgh,  Penn.,  February  22d,  1856.  An  address 
written  by  Henry  J.  Raymond,  the  editor  of  the 
New  York  Times,  was  adopted,  but  no  nominations 
were  made.  The  regular  nominating  convention 
assembled  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  following  i;th 


22  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

£ 

of  J  une,  a  fortnight  after  the  Democratic  party  had 
nominated  James  Buchanan  and  John  C  Breck- 
inridge  for  the  Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency,  at 
a  convention  held  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  Over 
the  Philadelphia  convention  the  Hon.  Henry  S. 
Lane,  of  Indiana,  presided.  It  was  a  large,  enthu 
siastic  and  harmonious  gathering.  John  C.  Fre 
mont,  of  California,  was  nominated  candidate  for 
President,  and  Wm.  L.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  for 
Vice-President,  each  on  the  first  ballot.  The  con 
vention  also  adopted  a  platform  of  which  the  fol 
lowing  is  a  copy: 

PHILADELPHIA  PLATFORM  OF  1856. 

"  This  Convention  of  Delegates,  assembled  in  pursuance  of  a  call  addressed 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  without  regard  to  past  political  differ 
ences  or  divisions,  who  are  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Comprom 
ise,  to  the  policy  of  the  present  Administration,  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  free  territory ;  in  favor  of  admitting  Kansas  as  a  free  State,  of  restoring 
the  action  of  the  Federal  Government  to  the  principles  of  Washington  and 
Jefferson,  and  who  propose  to  unite  in  presenting  candidates  for  the  office  of 
President  and  Vice-President,  do  resolve  as  follows  : 

"Resolved,  that  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution  is 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  our  republican  institutions,  and  that  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution,  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  union  of  the  States,  shall 
be  preserved. 

"  Resolved,  That  with  our  republican  fathers  we  hold  it  to  be  a  self-evident 
truth,  that  all  men  are  endowed  with  the  inalienable  rights  to  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  that  the  primary  object  and  ulterior 
designs  of  our  Federal  Government  were  to  secure  these  rights  to  all  persons 
within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction  ;  that  as  our  republican  fathers,  when  they 
had  abolished  Slavery  in  all  our  national  territory,  crdained  that  no  person 
should  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law, 
it  becomes  our  duty  to  maintain  this  provision  of  the  Constitution  against 
all  attempts  to  violate  it  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  Slavery  in  any  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States,  by  positive  legislation,  prohibiting  its  existence  or 
extension  therein.  That  we  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  territorial 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  23 

legislature,  of  any  individual  or  association  of  individuals,  to  give  legal  exist 
ence  to  Slavery  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States,  while  the  present  Con 
stitution  shall  be  maintained. 

"  Resolved^  That  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power 
over  the  territories  of  the  United  States  for  their  government,  and  that  in 
the  exercise  of  this  power  it  is  both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
prohibit  in  the  territories  those  twin  relics  of  barbarism — Polygamy  and 
Slavery. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  ordained 
and  established  by  the  people  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  estab 
lish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defense, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  contains  ample  provisions  for  the 
protection  of  life,  liberty  and  property  of  every  citizen,  the  dearest  constitu 
tional  rights  of  the  people  of  Kansas  have  been  fraudulently  and  violently 
taken  from  them — their  territory  has  been  invaded  by  an  armed  force — spu 
rious  and  pretended  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  officers  have  been  set 
over  them,  by  whose  usurped  authority,  sustained  by  the  military  power  of 
the  Government,  tyrannical  and  unconstitutional  laws  have  been  enacted 
and  enforced — the  rights  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  have  been 
infringed — test  oaths  of  an  extraordinary  and  entangling  nature  have  been 
imposed  as  a  condition  of  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage  and  holding  office — 
the  right  of  an  accused  person  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury  has  been  denied — the  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers,  and  effects  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures  has 
been  violated — they  have  been  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  with 
out  due  process  of  law — that  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  has 
been  abridged — the  right  to  choose  their  representatives  has  been  made  of 
no  effect — murders,  robberies,  and  arsons  have  been  instigated  and  encour 
aged,  and  the  offenders  have  been  allowed  to  go  unpunished — that  all  these 
things  have  been  done  with  the  knowledge,  sanction,  and  procurement  of 
the  present  Administration,  and  that  for  this  high  crime  against  the  Consti 
tution,  the  Union,  and  Humanity,  we  arraign  the  Administration,  the  Pres 
ident,  his  advisers,  agents,  supporters,  apologists  and  accessories,  either 
before  or  after  the  facts,  before  the  country  and  before  the  world,  and  that  it 
is  our  fixed  purpose  to  bring  the  actual  perpetrators  of  these  atrocious  out 
rages,  and  their  accomplices,  to  a  sure  and  condign  punishment  hereafter. 

"  Resolved,  That  Kansas  should  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  State  of  the 
Union,  with  her  present  free  Constitution,  as  at  once  the  most  effectual  way 
of  securing  to  her  citizens  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  and  privileges  to 
which  they  are  entitled,  and  of  ending  the  civil  strife  now  raging  in  her 
territory. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  highwayman's  plea,  that  *  might  makes  right,'  embod 
ied  in  the  Ostend  Circular,  was  in  every  respect  unworthy  of  American 


24  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

diplomacy,  and  would  bring  shame  and  dishonor  upon  any  Government  or 
people  that  gave  it  their  sanction. 

4  Resolved,  That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  by  the  most  central  and 
practicable  route,  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  whole 
country,  and  that  the  Federal  Government  ought  to  render  immediate  and 
efficient  aid  in  its  construction,  and,  as  an  auxiliary  thereto,  the  immediate 
construction  of  an  emigrant  routo  on  the  line  of  the  railroad. 

Resolved,  That  appropriations  by  Congress  for  the  improvement  of  rivers 
and  harbors,  of  a  national  character,  required  for  the  accommodation  and 
security  of  our  existing  commerce,  are  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  and 
justified  by  the  obligation  of  Government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property 
of  its  citizens." 

THE  CAMPAIGN. 

The  action  of  the  convention  was  heartily  sus 
tained  by  the  Republican  party,  which  had  now 
become  well  organized  in  all  the  non-slaveholding 
States,  and  numbered  many  adherents  in  the  bor 
der  slave  States.  The  campaign  was  characterized 
by  great  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  Republi 
cans.  Their  journals  were  crowded  with  accounts 
of  mass  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
The  current  events  in  Kansas,  in  a  state  of  civil 
war,  were  calculated  to  arouse  the  public  feeling  to 
the  highest  pitch ;  and,  in  fact,  did  so.  So  when 
the  election  came  on,  in  November,  it  was  found 
that  Fremont  and  Dayton  had  carried  all  the  New 
England  States,  New  York,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wis 
consin,  and  Iowa,  and  large  popular  votes  in  all  the 
other  Northern  States.  The  popular  votes  of  the 
Republican  party,  at  its  first  presidential  election 
numbered  1,341,264.  James  Buchanan,  the  Dem 
ocratic  candidate,  was  chosen  President,  but  Mil- 
lard  Filmore,  the  "  American "  candidate,  received 
the  vote  of  Maryland  and  nearly  nine  hundred 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  25 

thousand  popular  votes  in  the  thirty-one  States 
which  then  composed  the  Union.  Mr.  Buchanan, 
therefore,  was  in  a  popular  minority,  though  receiv 
ing  a  large  majority  of  the  votes  in  the  electoral 
college. 


LECOMPTON." 


The  event  of  most  political  significance,  perhaps, 
which  occurred  during  the  administration  of  Presi 
dent  Buchanan,  was  the  attempt  to  force  slavery 
into  Kansas,  against  the  will  of  the  people,  under 
what  was  known  at  the  time  as  "  the  Lecompton 
Constitution" — an  instrument  representing  fraud 
and  force  only.  Against  this  policy  the  illustrious 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Senator  from  Illinois,  revolted, 
and  with  undisguised  indignation  assailed  the  admin 
istration.  In  this  he  was  most  heartily  in  accord 
with  the  Republican  party,  which,  with  his  great 
aid,  was  enabled  herein  to  achieve  a  memorable 
victory.  It  was  not  until  some  years  after  this, 
however,  that  Kansas  was  admitted  in  to  the  Union. 

THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES. 

The  discussion  of  the  Lecompton  Constitution 
in  Congress  gave  rise  to  two  important  events. 
First,  it  caused  a  division  in  the  Democratic  party 
which  continued  through  the  following  presiden 
tial  campaign  ;  and,  secondly,  it  was  the  indirect 
cause  of  that  remarkable  series  of  debates  between 
Senator  Douglas  and  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1858, 
through  which  the  latter  became  first  honorably 


26  THE    STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

known  to  the  American  public  generally,  thereby 
gaining  a  national  renown,  without  which  his  nom 
ination  for  the  Presidency  in  1860  would  have  been 
impossible.  On  account  of  the  plucky  revolt  of 
Senator  Douglas  against  the  administration  in  the 
Kansas  affair,  not  a  few  Republicans  and  Republi 
can  journals  of  note  in  the  country  thought  that  he 
ought  to  be  returned  to  the  Senate  by  the  Illinois 
Legislature  to  be  chosen  in  1858.  The  Republi 
cans  of  Illinois  were  not  of  this  opinion,  and  in 
their  State  Convention  of  that  year  did  the  unu 
sual  thing  of  actually  nominating  Mr.  Lincoln  as 
candidate  for  United  States  Senator.  It  was  upon 
this  occasion  that  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered  that  great 
speech,  new  become  historical,  beginning  with  this 
remarkable  exordium  : 

••  MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION  : 

"  If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we 
could  better  judge  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  into  the 
fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  initiated  with  the  avowed  object  and  confident 
promise  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that 
policy,  that  agitation  not  only  has  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented. 
In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and 
passed.  '  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this  gov 
ernment  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not 
expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved  ;  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall :  but  I 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the 
other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it, 
and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction  ;  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till  it 
shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new — North  as  well 
as  South." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  demonstration  of  the  tendency  of 
the  government  to  the  latter  condition  through 
the  operation  of  the  Nebraska  Doctrine  and  the 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  2J 

Dred  Scot  Decision,  was  profound,  unanswerable. 
The  speech  startled  the  convention,  and,  published 
in  all  the  leading  journals,  made  a  profound  impres 
sion  throughout  the  republic.  It  served  as  text  for 
many  a  political  harangue  during  subsequent  cam 
paigns,  and  it  at  once  taught  the  country  that  if 
Senator  Douglas  did  not  have  his  equal  in  debate 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  he  would  find  him  in  this 
till  then  comparatively  unknown  lawyer  of  Illinois. 
He  did,  in  fact,  soon  return  home  from  Washington, 
and  made  a  speech  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  in  reply 
to  Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield  address.  To  this,  Mr. 
Lincoln  speedily  rejoined,  and  soon  afterwards 
arrangements  were  made  for  a  series  of  joint 
debates  between  these  two  celebrated  men.  It  is 
certain  that  no  State  campaign  was  ever  more  ani 
matedly  conducted,  or  attracted  more  general  atten 
tion.  On  those  days  when  these  great  disputants 
were  not  engaged  in  joint  discussion,  they  addressed 
large  audiences  in  independent  meetings,  and  all 
Illinois  rang  with  their  argumentation  and  elo 
quence.  Through  the  elaborate  reports  of  the 
newspaper  press,  the  whole  country  listened,  and 
with  eager  interest,  to  the  joint  debates.  At  their 
conclusion  Abraham  Lincoln  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  among  the  ablest  of  American 
thinkers  and  speakers.  His  fame  was  exalted  and 
national 


CHAPTER    II. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

(CONTINUED.) 

The  Chicago  Convention  of  1860 — Nomination  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin — 
The  Platform — The  Canvass — Success  of  the  Republicans — The  South 
Belligerent — President  Lincoln's  Inaugural  Address — His  Cabinet,  Etc. 

Lincoln  was,  however,  defeated  for  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Douglas  being  again  elected  by  the  Legisla 
ture.  But  when  the  National  Convention  of  the 
Republican  party  assembled  at  Chicago  in  1860,  it 
was  at  once  discovered  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  for 
midable  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  He  had 
friends  and  admirers  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  convention  itself  was  very  large,  while  the 
attendance  of  visitors  was  so  great  as  to  crowd  the 
city  for  days.  The  "outside  pressure"  for  Mr.  Lin 
coln  was  tremendous.  He  was  nominated  on  the 
third  ballot,  amid  excitement  and  enthusiasm  the 
like  of  which  has  rarely  been  witnessed  in  this 
country.  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  chosen 
for  the  second  place  on  the  ticket.  The  platform, 
which,  it  is  believed,  was  chiefly  prepared  by  Hor 
ace  Greeley  and  the  Hon.  John  A.  Kasson,of  Iowa, 
was  much  more  elaborate  than  that  of  1856.  As 
showing  the  growth  of  the  party  in  respect  of  plat 
form  literature,  it  may  be  well  to  quote  the  entire 
document : 

(28) 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  29 


CHICAGO  PLATFORM  OF   i860. 

"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  delegated  representatives  of  the  Republican  elec 
tors  of  the  United  States,  in  Convention  assembled,  in  discharge  of  the 
duty  we  owe  to  our  constituents  and  our  country,  unite  in  the  following  dec 
laration  : 

"  i.  That  the  history  of  the  nation,  during  the  last  four  years,  has  fully 
established  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  organization  and  perpetuation 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  that  the  causes  which  called  it  into  existence 
are  permanent  in  their  nature,  and  now,  more  than  ever  before,  demand  its 
peaceful  and  constitutional  triumph. 

"  2.  That  the  maintainance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  and  embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  "That  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain 
inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap 
piness  ;  that  to  secure  these  rights  governments  are  instituted  among  men, 
deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,"  is  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  our  Republican  institutions  ;  and  that  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  Union  of  the  States,  must  and 
shall  be  preserved, 

"3.  That  to  the  Union  of  the  States  this  nation  owes  its  unprecedented 
increase  in  population,  its  surprising  development  of  material  resources,  its 
rapid  augmentation  of  wealth,  its  happiness  at  home,  and  its  honor  abroad ; 
and  we  hold  in  abhorrence  all  schemes  for  Disunion,  come  from  whatever 
source  they  may  ;  and  we  congratulate  the  country  that  no  Republican 
member  of  Congress  has  uttered  or  countenanced  the  threats  of  Disunion  so 
often  made  by  Democratic  members,  without  rebuke  and  with  applause 
from  their  political  associates  ;  and  we  denounce  those  threats  of  Disunion, 
in  case  of  a  popular  overthrow  of  their  ascendancy,  as  denying  the  vital 
principles  of  a  free  government,  and  as  an  avowal  of  contemplated  treason, 
which  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  an  indignant  people  sternly  to  rebuke  and 
forever  silence. 

"  4.  That  the  maintainance,  inviolate,  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  espe 
cially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institu 
tions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance 
of  powers  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric 
depends  ;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil 
of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the  grav 
est  of  crimes. 

"  5.  That  the  present  Democratic  Admistration  has  far  exceeded  our 
worst  apprehensions  in  its  measureless  subserviency  to  the  exactions  of  a 
sectional  interest,  as  especially  evinced  in  its  desperate  exertions  to  force  the 
infamous  Lecompton  Constitution  upon  the  protesting  people  of  Kansas  ;  in 


3<D  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     *J2. 

construing  the  personal  relation  between  master  and  servant  to  involve  an 
unqualified  property  in  persons;  in  its  attempted  enforcement  everywhere, 
on  land  and  sea,  through  the  intervention  of  Congress,  and  of  the  Federal 
Courts,  of  the  extreme  pretentions  of  a  purely  local  interest  ;  and  in  its  gen 
eral  and  unvarying  abuse  of  the  power  entrusted  to  it  by  a  confiding  people. 

"  6.  That  the  people  justly  view  with  alarm  the  reckless  extravagance 
which  pervades  every  department  of  the  Federal  Government ;  that  a  return 
to  rigid  economy  and  accountability  is  indispensable  to  arrest  the  systematic 
plunder  of  the  public  Treasury  by  favored  partisans,  while  the  recent  start 
ling  developments  of  frauds  and  corruptions  at  the  Federal  metropolis  show 
that  an  entire  change  of  Administration  is  imperatively  demanded. 

"  7.  That  the  new  dogma,  that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carries 
Slavery  into  any  or  all  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  a  danger 
ous  political  heresy,  at  variance  with  the  explicit  provisions  of  that  instru 
ment  itself,  with  contemporaneous  exposition,  and  with  legislative  and  judi 
cial  precedent ;  is  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  and  subversive  of  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  country. 

"  8.  That  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  is 
that  of  freedom  ;  that  as  our  Republican  fathers,  when  they  had  abolished 
Slavery  in  all  our  national  territory,  ordained  that  ''  no  person  should  be 
deprived  of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  without  due  process  of  law,"  it  becomes 
our  duty,  by  legislation,  whenever  such  legislation  is  necessary,  to  maintain 
this  provision  of  the  Constitution  against  all  attempts  to  violate  it  ;  and  we 
deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  territorial  legislature,  or  of  any  indi 
viduals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  Slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the  United 
States. 

"  9.  That  we  brand  the  recent  re-opening  of  the  African  slave-trade,  under 
the  cover  of  our  national  flag,  aided  by  perversions  of  judicial  power,  as  a 
crime  against  humanity,  and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age  ;  and 
we  call  upon  Congress  to  take  prompt  and  efficient  measures  for  the  total 
and  final  suppression  of  that  execrable  traffic. 

"  10.  That  in  the  recent  vetoes,  by  their  Federal  Governors,  of  the  acts  of 
the  Legislatures  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  prohibiting  Slavery  in  those  Ter 
ritories,  we  find  a  practical  illustration  of  the  boasted  Democratic  principle 
of  Non-intervention  and  Popular  Sovereignty,  embodied  in  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  and  a  demonstration  of  the  deception  and  fraud  involved 
therein. 

"ii.  That  Kansas  should,  of  right,  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  State 
under  the  Constitution  recently  formed  and  adopted  by  her  people,  and 
accepted  by  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"  12.  That,  while  providing  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  General  Gov 
ernment  by  duties  upon  imports,  sound  policy  requires  such  an  adjustment 
of  these  imposts  as  to  encourage  the  development  of  the  industrial  interest 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  3! 

of  the  whole  country  ;  and  we  commend  that  policy  of  national  exchanges 
which  secures  to  the  working  men  liberal  wages,  to  agriculture  remunerative 
prices,  to  mechanics  and  manufactures  an  adequate  reward  for  their 
skill,  labor,  aid  enterprise,  and  to  the  nation  commercial  prosperity  and 
independence. 

"  13.  That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or  alienation  to  others  of  the  Pub 
lic  Lands  held  by  actual  settlers,  and  against  any  view  of  the  Homestead 
policy  that  regards  the  settlers  as  paupers  or  suppliants  for  public  bounty ; 
and  we  demand  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  complete  and  satisfactory 
Homestead  measure  which  has  already  passed  the  House. 

"  14.  That  the  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  any  change  in  our  Natural 
ization  Laws  or  any  State  legislation  by  which  the  rights  of  citizenship,  hith 
erto  accorded  to  emigrants  from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged  or  impaired.; 
and  in  favor  of  giving  a  full  and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights  of  all 
classes  of  citizens,  whether  native  or  naturalized,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

"  15.  That  appropriations  by  Congress  for  River  and  Harbor  improve 
ments  of  a  national  character,  required  for  the  accommodation  and  security 
of  an  existing  commerce,  are  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  and  justified 
by  the  obligations  of  Government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
citizens. 

"  16.  That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  imperatively  demanded  by 
the  interest  of  the  whole  country  ;  that  the  Federal  Government  ought  to 
render  immediate  and  efficient  aid  in  its  construction  ;  and  that,  as  prelim 
inary  thereto,  a  daily  overland  mail  should  be  promptly  established. 

"  17.  Finally,  having  thus  set  forth  our  distinctive  principles  and  views, 
we  invite  the  co-operation  of  all  citizens,  however  differing  on  other  ques 
tions,  who  substantially  agree  with  us  in  their  affirmance  and  support." 

THE    CANVASS. 

Mr.  Lincoln  accepted  the  nomination  in  the  fol 
lowing  letter: 

SPRINGFIELD,  111.,  May  23d,  1860. 

Hox.  GEORGE  ASHMUN,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CON- 
VENTION: — 

SIR  : — I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  Convention  over 
which  you  presided,  and  of  which  I  am  formally  apprised  in  the  letter  of 
yourself  and  others  acting  as  a  Committee  of  the  Convention  for  that 
purpose. 

The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments  which  accompanies  your  let 
ter  meets  my  approval  ;  and  it  shall  be  my  care  not  to  violate  or  disregard  it 
in  any  part. 

Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and   with  due  regard  to 


32  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  represented  in  the  Convention ;  to 
the  rights  of  all  the  States  and  Territories,  and  people  of  the  nation  ;  to  the 
inviolability  of  the  Constitution  and  the  perpetual  union,  harmony,  and 
prosperity  of  all,  I  am  most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  practical  success  of 
the  principles  declared  by  the  Convention. 

"Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow  citizen,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

Mr.   Hamlin   accepted  the   nomination    for  the 
Vice-Presidency  in  a  neat  letter  of  which  the  fol 
lowing  is  the  concluding  paragraph : 

"  It  is  to  be  observed  in  connection  with  the  doings  of  the  Republican 
Convention,  that  a  paramount  object  with  us  is  to  preserve  the  normal  con 
dition  of  our  territorial  domain  as  homes  for  free  men.  The  able  advocate 
and  defender  of  Republican  principles  whom  you  have  nominated  for  the 
highest  place  that  can  gratify  the  ambition  of  man,  comes  from  a  State  which 
has  been  made  what  it  is  by  special  action  in  that  respect  of  the  wise  and 
good  men  who  founded  our  institutions.  The  rights  of  free  labor  have  there 
been  vindicated  and  maintained.  The  thrift  and  enterprise  which  so  distin 
guish  Illinois,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  States  of  the  glorious  West,  we 
would  see  secured  to  all  the  territories  of  the  Union  ;  and  restore  peace  and 
harmony  to  the  whole  country  by  bringing  back  the  Government  to  vrhat  it 
was  under  the  wise  and  patriotic  men  who  created  it.  If  the  Republicans 
shall  succeed  in  that  object,  as  they  hope  to,  they  will  be  held  in  grateful 
remembrance  by  the  busy  and  teeming  millions  of  future  ages. 

"I  am  very  truly  yours,  H,  HAMLIN." 

The  campaign  which  ensued  was  one  of  the  most 
memorable  in  the  history  of  American  politics. 
The  convention  of  the  Democratic  party,  which 
assembled  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  failed  to 
agree.  After  fifty-seven  ineffectual  ballotings  for 
a  candidate  for  President, — Senator  Douglas  all 
the  time  receiving  a  handsome  majority,  but  not 
the  necessary  two-thirds, — the  convention  of  storms 
adjourned  for  other  storms  at  Baltimore.  There 
Mr.  Douglas  was  nominated,  but  the  seceding  del 
egations  of  several  States  nominated  John  C 
Breckinridge  for  President,  and  Joseph  Lane,  of 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  33 

Oregon,  for  Vice-President.  Herschel  V.  Johnson, 
of  Georgia,  was  the  Douglas  candidate  for  Vice- 
President,  Benjamin  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama,  hav 
ing  declined  the  nomination  of  the  convention. 

The  "Constitutional  Union  Party"  nominated 
John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  President  and  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.  Thus 
the  campaign  of  1860  was  a  quadrilateral  contest. 
The  Charleston  convention  and  that  which  nomi 
nated  Messrs.  Bell  and  Everett  had  been  held 
before  that  which  placed  Mr.  Lincoln  in  nomina 
tion.  Hence  the  campaign  at  once  opened  with 
"  thundering  all  around  the  skies." 

The  members  of  the  Chicago  convention  had 
not  departed  for  their  homes  without  seeing  an  im 
mense  procession  of  "  Wide  Awakes  "  parading  the 
streets,  with  music,  and  banners  and  torches.  In 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  similar  organiza 
tions  were  formed  in  all  parts  of  the  North,  and 
everywhere  the  Republicans  went  to  work  with 
earnest  good  will  to  elect  their  candidates.  A  sin 
gular  interest  was  added  to  the  campaign  by  the 
fact  that  Senator  Douglas  himself  went  upon  the 
rostrum,  and  in  a  series  of  speeches  to  immense 
audiences,  assailed  the  policy  of  the  Republicans 
and  the  Breckinridge  wing  of  the  Democratic  party. 
It  was  clear,  however,  to  the  careful  observer,  that 
Senator  Douglas,  despairing  of  his  own  election, 
desired  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  at  last 
only  labored  to  control  the  organization  of  the 


34  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

party  of  which  he  had  so  long  been  a  prominent 
member 

Of  the  315  votes  of  the  electoral  college,  Mr. 
Lincoln  received  180,  Mr.  Breckinridge  72,  Mr. 
Bell  39,  and  Mr.  Douglas  12.  The  States  which 
sustained  the  Republican  cause  were :  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  Vermont,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
(casting  for  electoral  votes  four  Lincoln  and  Ham- 
lin,  three  for  Douglas  and  Johnson,)  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Iowa,  Wisconsin, 
California,  Minnesota,  Oregon.  Breckinridge  and 
Lane  received  the  votes  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Louisiana,  Missis 
sippi,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Texas.  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  voted  for  Bell  and  Ever 
ett.  In  addition  to  the  three  votes  from  New  Jer 
sey,  Douglas  and  Johnson  received  the  nine  votes 
of  Missouri.  Of  popular  votes  Lincoln  and  Ham- 
lin  received  1,857,610;  Douglas  and  Johnson, 
1,365,976;  Breckinridge  and  Lane,  847,553 ;  Bell 
and  Everett,  590,631.  The  Republicans  every 
where  received  the  intelligence  of  their  triumph 
with  manifestations  of  enthusiastic  delight. 

THE    SOUTH    BELLIGERENT. 

It  was  received,  however,  with  very  different  feel 
ings  in  the  South.  On  the  very  day  after  the  elec 
tion  the  "  Southern  Confederacy "  was  cheered  in 
the  city  of  Charleston,  and  the  "  palmetto  flag  "  was 
raised  on  shipping  in  the  harbor.  Before  Mr.  Lin- 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  35 

coin  had  been  inducted  into  office,  several  States 
had  undertaken  formally  to  secede  from  the  Union; 
several  members  of  President  Buchanan's  cabinet 
had  resigned,  some  in  the  interest  of  secession, 
others  because  of  their  disgust  at  Mr,  Buchanan's 
alleged  imbecility  and  indecision ;  a  number  of 
Southern  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con 
gress  had  retired  from  the  halls,  "  pride  in  their 
port,  defiance  in  their  eye  ;"  large  quantities  of  pub 
lic  property  had  been  captured  by  the  Secession 
ists ;  a  large  Union  army  had  been  surrendered  by 
a  faithless  general ;  the  South  below  the  border 
States  was  practically  in  armed  rebellion,  under  the 
"Confederate"  Government,  against  the  Union. 
All  this  before  the  President-elect  had  uttered  a 
word  in  justification  of  the  opinion  that  his  admin 
istration  would  be  in  any  unlawful  respect  revolu 
tionary  or  hostile  to  the  South. 

PRESIDENT    LINCOLN'S    INAUGURAL    ADDRESS. 

It  was  under  these  unhappy  circumstances,  that 
the  first  Republican  national  administration  as 
sumed  control  of  the  Government.  President  Lin 
coln's  Inaugural  Address  was  a  model  of  modera 
tion,  forbearance,  statesmanship,  courage.  It  con 
tains  no  single  word  of  menace  or  of  unkindness, 
yet  declared  the  duty  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  to 
transmit  the  government  of  the  Union  unimpaired 
by  him  to  his  successor.  The  conclusion  of  this 
notable  address  is  of  historical  value  : 

"  My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and 

3 


36  THE    STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

well  upon  this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable 
can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  If  there  be  an  object 
to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to  a  step  which 
you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will 
foe  frustrated  by  taking  time ;  but  no  good  object 
can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you  as  are  now 
dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Constitution  unim 
paired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your 
own  framing  under  it;  while  the  new  Adminis 
tration  will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would, 
to  change  either.  If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who 
are  dissatisfied,  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dispute, 
there  still  is  no  single  good  reason  for  precipitate 
action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity, and  a 
firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken 
this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in 
the  best  way,  all  our  present  difficulty. 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-country 
men,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of 
civil  war.  The  Government  will  not  assail  you. 
You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves 
the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in 
heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall 
have  the  most  solemn  one  to  'preserve,  protect, and 
defend  it.' 

"  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but 
friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  pas 
sion  may  have  strained  it  must  not  break  our  bonds 
of  affection.  The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretch 
ing  from  every  battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to 
every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  39 

broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union 
when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the 
better  angels  of  our  nature." 

LINCOLN'S  CABINET. 

The  Inaugural  was  well  received  by  the  people  of 
the  North  quite  generally  and  also  by  those  of  the 
Border  States ;  but  the  "  Southern  heart"  had  been 
"  fired,"  and  the  people  of  that  section  were  coerced 
by  their  hot-headed  leaders  into  most  cruel  and 
unjustifiable  rebellion.  Meantime,  President  Lin 
coln  proceeded  to  administer  the  government  with 
patience  and  wisdom.  He  selected  a  cabinet  of 
eminent  men  in  the  party,  a  majority  of  whom  had 
been  his  competitors  for  the  nomination  at  Chicago, 
namely:  William  H.  Seward,  of  New  York,  Secre 
tary  of  State ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury ;  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Secretary  of  War ;  Gideon  Welles,  of  Connecticut, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  Indi 
ana,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  ;  Edward  Bates,  of 
Missouri,  Attorney  General ;  Montgomery  Blair,  of 
Maryland,  Postmaster  General. 


CHAPTER   III, 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

(CONTINUED.) 

General  History  of  the  Party  During  the  War — Emancipation  —  The 
Amendments  to  the  Constitution — The  Campaign  of  1846 — The  Balti 
more  Platform — The  Cleveland  Convention — The  Democratic  Convention 
— The  Democratic  Convention  and  Platform — The  Canvass — The  Death 
of  President  Lincoln — Andrew  Johnson — His  Treachery  and  Impeach 
ment — Reconstruction  Commenced. 

From  this  time  forth  until  the  close  of  the  war 
of  the  rebellion,  the  history  of  the  Republican 
party  is  so  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  Union 
itself  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  separate  the 
two.  Called  by  the  people  to  the  conduct  of  affairs 
during  this  momentous  era  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  the  policy  of  the  party  was  necessarily  en 
grafted  into  the  conduct  of  the  war  and  the  ma 
terial,  financial,  and  legislative  measures  of  the  stir 
ring  and  exceptional  times.  That  the  adminis 
tration  of  affairs  during  this  national  crisis  was  in 
the  main  highly  successful,  the  event  of  the  war  is 
ample  demonstration.  For  not  only  was  the  Union 
saved,  but  the  credit  of  the  nation  was  also  con 
stantly  maintained,  so  that  notwithstanding  the  war, 
the  people  continued  to  be  prosperous,  and  remain 
highly  prosperous  to  this  day.  The  soldiers  and 
sailors  were  promptly  paid.  There  never  was  any 

(40) 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  4! 

discontent  either  in  the  army  or  navy.  The  people 
cheerfully  paid  heavy  taxes  because  they  perceived 
that  they  were  wisely  levied,  honestly  collected, 
and  faithfully  disbursed  to  the  patriotic  saviours  of 
the  Republic.  It  were  useless  to  relate  the  details 
of  legislation  and  administration  during  these  ex 
citing  years;  the  result  so  amply  vindicating  the 
statesmanship  and  patriotism  of  the  party  in  power, 
but  it  may  be  well  to  recur  to  a  few  facts  which  are 
especially  illustrative  of  Republican  policy. 

SLAVERY  THE  CORNER-STONE  OF  REBELLION. 

The  success  of  the  Republican  party  was  not  the 
cause,  but  only  the  pretext  of  the  war.  It  cannot 
be  pretended  that  the  election  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln  was  not  in  every  particular  lawful.  Nor  can 
it  be  claimed  that  after  election  and  before  inaug 
uration,  he  or  his  party  had  violated  any  law  what 
ever,  or  in  any  way  manifested  any  disposition  to 
do  so.  Nevertheless,  before  his  inauguration,  the 
pretended  "  Confederate  "  Government  was  set  up, 
and  a  provisional  President  and  Vice-President 
were  elected.  The  corner-stone  of  this  new  gov 
ernment,  as  claimed  by  its  chief  architects,  was 
Slavery.  They  proposed  to  overthrow  the  Consti 
tution  and  the  principle 'of  freedom  at  the  same 
time;  by  the  same  blow  to  destroy  both.  Both 
were  in  the  keeping  of  the  Republican  party. 

The  party  maintained  both  not  only,  but  strictly 
in  accordance  with  law,  gave  new  triumphs  to  free 
dom,  and  added  new  provisions  of  beneficent  polit 
ical  effect  to  the  Constitution. 


42  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

PRELIMINARIES  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

Among  these  the  first  in  practical  importance,  per 
haps,  will  be  regarded  President  Lincoln's  Procla 
mation  of  Emancipation.  On  the  22d  of  September, 
1862,  President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  in 
which,  after  reciting  the  provisions  of  certain  acts  of 
Congress,  he  declared  that  on  the  first  of  the  follow 
ing  January  he  would,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  set  free  all  slaves  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  remaining  in  rebellion  against  the  gov 
ernment.  This  proclamation  created  a  profound 
impression  throughout  the  country.  Many  asserted 
it  was  proof  that  the  war  was  carried  on,  not  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Union,  but  for  the  abolition 
of  Slavery.  This,  however,  the  proclamation  itself 
disproved.  It  is  to  be  observed  also,  that  on  the 
6th  of  March  previous,  the  President  had  sent  a 
message  to  Congress,  recommending  compensated 
emancipation,  in  accordance  with  which  both 
Houses  very  soon  passed  the  following  joint 
resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  efc.,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State 
which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  State  pecun 
iary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in  its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the 
inconvenience,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system." 

Other  legislative  attempts  in  the  same  direction 
were  also  made,  and  there  was  much  diplomacy  on 
the  subject  between  representatives  of  the  border 
Slave  States  and  President  Lincoln  ;  but  all  such 
efforts  failed  to  reach  a  practical  result.  A  recur 
rence  to  them,  however,  is  regarded  proper,  as 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  43 

showing  that  emancipation,  through  the  war  pow 
er  of  the  government,  was  not  adopted  except  as 
the  last  extremity  and  on  account  of  the  dire 
necessity  of  the  military  situation.  Accordingly, 
after  many  months  of  wearying  patience  the  Pres 
ident  issued  that  immortal  document,  the  "  Procla 
mation  of  Emancipation,"  wherein,  after  citing  the 
preliminary  proclamation  already  referred  to,  he 
proclaimed : 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the 
authority  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in 
accordance  with  nay  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period 
of  one  hundred  days,  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  designate 
as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively  are 
this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit : 

[Here  follows  an  enumeration  of  the  Slave  States,  with  certain  reservations 
in  favor  of  districts  occupied  by  Federal  troops.] 

'  And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order  and 
declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  States  and  parts 
of  States  are  and  henceforward  shall  be  free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

"And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free  to  abstain  from 
all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense  ;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that, 
in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

"And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons,  of  suitable  con 
dition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States  to  gar 
rison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all 
sorts  in  said  service. 

"And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justidb,  warranted  by 
the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment 
of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 


44  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
[L.  S.]  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
By  the  President : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

LINCOLN    TO    THE    CHICAGO    CLERGYMEN. 

It  belongs,  perhaps,  rather  to  a  biography  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  than  the  province  of  history,  to 
say  that  he  gave  to  this  subject  his  profoundest 
reflection,  considering  it  not  only  in  its  legal  and 
military  bearings,  but  as  affected  by  Christian  civ 
ilization  also.  Only  a  few  days  before  the  warning 
proclamation  of  September  22d,  the  President 
gave  audience  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  to  a 
deputation  from  all  the  religious  denominations 
of  the  city  of  Chicago,  who  waited  upon  him  to 
urge  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  emancipation. 
In  the  course  of  his  reply  to  their  remarks,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  said : 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  mentioned  these  objections. 
They  indicate  the  difficulties  that  have  thus  far  prevented  my  action  in  some 
such  way  as  you  desire.  I  have  not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of  lib 
erty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  I  can  assure 
you  that  the  subject  is  on  my  mind  by  day  and  night  more  than  any  other 
Whatever  shall  appear  to  be  God's  will  I  will  do." 

It  would  thus  appear  that  no  great  measure  ever 
received  more  deliberate,  earnest  consideration 
than  that  sublime  document  by  which  the  chains 
of  three  million  slaves  were  at  once  destroyed. 
Congress  and  the  people  approved  the  measure 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  45 

with  much  unanimity.  An  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution,  forever  abolishing  slavery — introduced  by 
Representative  James  F.  Wilson,  of  Iowa — was 
speedily  adopted  by  Congress,  and  soon  ratified 
by  the  requisite  number  of  State  Legislatures. 
Thus  was  freedom  established  throughout  the 
land  much  sooner  than,  without  the  rebellion,  it 
could  possibly  have  been  done. 

THE    AMENDMENTS    TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

It  will  be  in  logical  order  to  speak  here  of  two 
other  great  triumphs  of  the  Republican  party  in 
behalf  of  human  rights,  though  they  were  not 
gained  for  some  years  after  the  amendment  by 
which  slavery  was  abolished.  The  Fourteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  the  joint  resolu 
tion  for  which  passed  Congress  in  1866,  declared 
that  all  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States  are  citizens,  whose  rights  as  such  must  be 
protected  alike  in  all  the  States.  By  the  same 
amendment  the  validity  of  the  public  debt  is  for 
ever  assured,  and  payment  of  the  Rebel  debt  pro 
hibited.  By  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  adopted  in 
1869,  the  right  of  franchise  is  secured  to  colored 
men  in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  It  is  hardly  too 
much  to  say  that  in  the  success  of  these  amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution,  following  emancipation 
by  military  authority,  as  they  did,  the  Republican 
party  did  more  in  behalf  of  genuine  liberty  and 
more  against  political  and  civil  injustice  than  was 
ever  before  accomplished  in  a  much  longer  period, 
by  any  party  or  by  any  nation. 


46  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

THE   CAMPAIGN    OF    1864. 

But  it  was  not  alone  by  great  success  in  the  man 
agement  of  the  civil  Government,  and  by  the  prac 
tical  adoption  in  legislation  of  liberal  and  progres 
sive  ideas,  that  the  Republican  party  was  able  to 
maintain  its  ascendancy.  The  conduct  of  the  war 
had  for  some  time  been  such  as  to  merit  the  appro 
bation  of  the  country.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
under  General  Meade,  had  gained  the  great  victory 
of  Gettysburgh.  With  the  Western  armies  under 
Grant  and  Sherman,  victory  had  been  the  rule. 
With  them  there  had  been  no  such  word  as  fail. 
By  the  time  the  presidential  campaign  of  1864  be 
gan,  a  large  portion  of  "  Confederate"  territory  had 
been  regained;  the  Mississippi  river  was  open  to 
the  Gulf;  the  backbone  of  the  rebellion  had  been 
broken  by  the  remarkable  battle  of  Chattanooga; 
Sherman  was  marching  on  toward  his  rapid  con 
quest  of  Georgia ;  Grant  was  thundering  through 
the  Wilderness  on  that  notable  campaign  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  capitulation  of  all  the  rebel 
armies,  and  the  glorious  triumph  of  the  Union  arms. 

Thus  the  military  situation  gave  every  promise 
of  speedy  success,  when  the  third  Republican  Na 
tional  Convention  assembled  at  Baltimore,  June  7, 
1864.  Over  this  convention  temporarily  presided 
the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  the  distinguished 
divine  of  Kentucky.  Governor  Dennison,  of  Ohio, 
was  permanent  President.  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
re-nominated  candidate  for  President,  receiving  all 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  47 

the  votes  except  eleven  from  the  State  of  Missouri, 
which  were  cast  for  General  Grant.  Andrew  John 
son,  of  Tennessee,  was  nominated  for  Vice 
President. 

The  platform  adopted  by  this  convention  was  an 
admirable  expression  of  patriotic  sentiment  and 
wisdom.  It,  of  course,  forms  an  important  part  of 
the  political  annals  of  the  times : 

THE  BALTIMORE  PLATFORM  OF  1864. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  every  American  citizen  to  maintain 
against  all  their  enemies  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the  paramount 
authority  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that,  lay 
ing  aside  all  differences  of  political  opinion,  we  pledge  ourselves  as  Union 
men,  animated  by  a  common  sentiment,  and  aiming  at  a  common  object,-to 
do  everything  in  our  power  to  aid  the  Government  in  quelling  by  force  of 
arms  the  Rebellion  now  raging  against  its  authority,  and  in  bringing  to  the 
punishment  due  to  their  crimes  the  Rebels  and  traitors  arrayed  against  it. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  determination  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  not  to  compromise  with  Rebels,  nor  to  offer  any  terms  of  peace 
except  such  as  may  be  based  upon  an  "  unconditional  surrender"  of  their 
hostility  and  a  return  to  their  just  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  we  call  upon  the  Government  to  maintain  this 
position  and  to  prosecute  the  war  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor  to  the  com 
plete  suppression  of  the  Rebellion,  in  full  reliance  upon  the  self-sacrifice,  the 
patriotism,  the  heroic  valor,  and  the  undying  devotion  of  the  American 
people  to  their  country  and  its  free  institutions. 

Resolved,  That,  as  Slavery  was  the  cause,  and  now  constitutes  the  strength, 
of  this  Rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and  everywhere  hostile  to  the 
principles  of  Republican  government,  justice  and  the  national  safety  demand 
its  utter  and  complete  extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  Republic  ;  and  that  we 
uphold  and  maintain  the  acts  and  proclamations  by  which  the  Government, 
in  its  own  defense,  has  aimed  a  death-blow  at  the  gigantic  evil.  We  are  in 
favor,  furthermore,  of  such  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  to  be  made  by 
the  people  in  conformity  with  its  provisions,  as  shall  terminate  and  forever 
prohibit  the  existence  of  Slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  American  people  are  due  to  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  have  periled  their  lives  in  defense  of 


48  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

their  country,  and  in  vindication  of  the  honor  of  the  flag ;  that  the  navion 
owes  to  them  some  permanent  recognition  of  their  patriotism  and  valor,  and 
ample  and  permanent  provision  for  those  of  their  survivors  who  have  received 
disabling  and  honorable  wounds  in  the  service  of  the  country  ;  and  that  the 
memories  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  its  defense  shall  be  held  in  grateful  and 
everlasting  remembrance. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  and  applaud  the  practical  wisdom,  the  unselfish 
patriotism,  and  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  and  the  principles  of 
American  liberty,  with  which  Abraham  Lincoln  has  discharged,  under  circum 
stances  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  the  .great  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
Presidential  office  ;  that  we  approve  and  indorse,  as  demanded  by  the  emer 
gency  and  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  nation,  and  as  within  the  Con 
stitution,  the  measures  and  acts  which  he  has  adopted  to  defend  the  nation 
against  its  open  and  secret  foes  ;  that  we  approve  especially  of  the  Procla 
mation  of  Emancipation,  and  the  employment  as  Union  soldiers  of  man  here 
tofore  held  in  Slavery  ;  and  that  we  have  full  confidence  in  his  determination 
to  carry  these  and  all  other  constitutional  measures  essential  to  the  salvation 
of  the  country  into  full  and  complete  effect. 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  essential  to  the  general  welfare  that  harmony 
should  prevail  in  the  national  council,  and  we  regard  as  worthy  of  public  con 
fidence  and  official  trust  those  only  who  cordially  indorse  the  principles  pro 
claimed  in  these  resolutions,  and  which  should  characterize  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  Government. 

Resolved,  That  the  Government  owes  to  all  men  employed  in  its  armies, 
without  regard  to  distinction  of  color,  the  full  protection  of  the  laws  of  war  ; 
and  that  any  violation  of  these  laws  or  of  the  usages  of  civilized  nations  in 
the  time  of  war  by  the  Rebels  now  in  arms  should  be  made  the  subject  of  full 
and  prompt  redress. 

Resolved,  That  the  foreign  immigration,  which  in  the  past  has  added  so 
much  to  the  wealth  and  development  of  resources  and  increase  of  power  to 
this  nation,  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  and 
encouraged  by  a  liberal  and  just  policy. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  speedy  construction  of  a  railroad  to 
the  Pacific. 

Resolved,  That  the  national  faith,  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  the  Public 
Debt,  must  be  kept  inviolate  ;  and  that  for  this  purpose  we  recommend 
economy  and  rigid  responsibility  in  the  public  expenditures,  and  a  vigorous 
and  just  system  of  taxation  ;  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  loyal  State  to  sustain 
the  credit  and  promote  the  use  of  the  national  currency. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  position  taken  by  the  Government  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  never  regarded  with  indifference  the  attempt  of 
any  European  power  to  overthrow  by  force,  or  to  supplant  by  fraud,  the  in- 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  49 

stitutions  of  any  republican  government  on  the  western  continent,  and  that 
they  view  with  extreme  jealousy,  as  menacing  to  the  peace  and  independence 
of  this  our  country,  the  efforts  of  any  such  power  to  obtain  new  footholds  for 
monarchial  governments,  sustained  by  a  foreign  military  force,  in  near  prox 
imity  to  the  United  States. 

THE    CLEVELAND    CONVENTION. 

There  was  some  dissatisfaction  with  the  admin 
istration  of  President  Lincoln  on  the  part  of  Re 
publicans.  These  had  held  a  convention  at  the 
City  of  Cleveland  on  the  3ist  of  May,  and  had 
nominated  General  John  C.  Fremont  for  President 
and  General  John  Cochrane  for  Vice-President. 
These  gentlemen  accepted  the  nominations,  and 
for  a  time  there  was  a  prospect  of  a  triangular  con 
test.  Among  the  most  eminent  men  who  took 
part  in  this  movement  were  Wendell  Phillips,  B. 
Gratz  Brown,  (now  again  in  the  bolting  business,) 
Frederick  Douglas  and  James  Redpath.  It  was 
winked  at,  but  not  boldly  advocated,  by  Horace 
Greeley  in  his  newspaper.  The  practical  unani 
mity  with  which  the  Baltimore  platform  and  nomi 
nations  were  received  by  the  masses  of  the  Repub 
lican  party,  however,  demonstrated  the  futility  of 
the  Cleveland  movement.  Montgomery  Blair  re 
tired  from  President  Lincoln's  cabinet,  and  the 
Cleveland  ticket  collapsed. 

THE  DEMOCRATIC  CONVENTION. 

The  National  Democratic  Convention  assembled 
at  Chicago  several  weeks  after  the  Republicans 
had  entered  upon  the  active  operations  of  a  vig 
orous  campaign.  The  Union  armies  were  at  the 


5<D  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

same  time  carrying  on  vigorous  and  successful  cam 
paigns.  Nevertheless,  the  Democracy  adopted  a 
peace  platform.  The  most  noteworthy  resolution 
was  the  following: 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention  does  explicetly  declare,  as  the  sense  of 
the  American  people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union  by 
the  experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under  the  pretense  of  military  neces 
sity  or  war  power,  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitution  itself  has 
been  disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private  right  alike 
trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country  essentially  impaired, 
justice,  humanity,  liberty,  and  the  public  welfare  demand  that  immediate 
efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  con 
vention  of  the  States,  or  other  peaceful  means,  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union 
of  the  States." 

Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  was  nominated  as  the 
candidate  for  President,  and  George  H.  Pendleton, 
of  Ohio,  for  Vice-President. 

THE   CANVASS. 

The  canvass  was  one  of  great  earnestness  on  the 
part  of  the  Republicans.  Their  meetings  were  ev 
erywhere  largely  attended,  but  there  was  little  mani 
festation  of  excitement.  It  was  .clear  that  a  vast  ma 
jority  of  the  people  had  firmly  resolved  to  save  the 
republic,  and  by  means  of  the  re-election  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln.  He  carried  all  of  the  States  voting 
except  New  Jersey,  Delaware  and  Kentucky.  The 
States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  Florida,  Arkansas  and  Tennessee  being 
in  rebellion,  did  not  participate  in  the  election. 
Of  the  popular  votes,  Lincoln  received  2,216,127 
against  1,808,725  for  McClellan,  being  a  Republican 
majority  of  407402  votes. 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  51 

This  crushing  political  victory,  in  addition  to 
the  recent  triumphs  of  arms,  settled  the  question 
of  the  war.  It  was  universally  agreed  that  the  re 
election  of  President  Lincoln  meant  the  salvation 
of  the  republic.  Thus  the  triumph  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  was  identical  with  the  triumqh  of  the 
national  cause.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
only  a  little  more  than  one  month  after  President 
Lincoln's  second  inauguration  that  the  Rebel 
armies  surrendered  and  the  pretended  "  Confeder 
ate  "  Government  gave  up  the  ghost. 

THE    DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN. 

On  the  i4th  of  April,  1865,  President  Lincoln 
was  assassinated,  and  expired  the  next  morning, 
only  five  days  after  the  surrender  of  the  Rebel 
General  Lee  at  Appomattox.  By  this  fearful  crime 
the  nation  was  thrown  from  the  highest  state  of 
enjoyment  over  the  near  prospect  of  peace  into  the 
deepest  gloom.  Had  there  been  wanting  evidence 
of  the  necessity  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  it  would 
have  been  found  in  the  possibility  of  so  terrible  a 
crime  by  one  of  its  defenders.  Mr.  Lincoln's  was 
"  the  kindest  heart  that  ever  beat,"  and  the  "  deep 
damnation  of  his  taking  off"  would  forever  place 
any  cause  in  unmixed  condemnation.  Upon  his 
death  the  Presidency  devolved  upon  Vice-Presi 
dent  Johnson.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  sit 
uation  at  this  time  was  one  of  grave  responsibility 
and  difficulty.  Perhaps  no  man  could  have  filled 
the  office  without  making  himself  in  some  respects 


52  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    'j2. 

vulnerable  to  honest  and  well  grounded  criticism. 
But  there  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  Presi 
dent  Johnson's  policy  of  reconstructing  the  States 
lately  in  rebellion,  to  which  he  adhered  with  obsti 
nate  determination,  greatly  added  to  the  difficulties 
of  the  times  and  cast  many  unnecessary  embarrass 
ments  in  the  way  of  a  speedy,  just  and  wise  adjust 
ment  of  troubles  which,  at  best,  could  not  have 
been  easily  arranged.  As  it  turned  out,  the  Repub 
lican  party,  instead  of  having  one  exceedingly  dif 
ficult  problem  to  solve,  had  two ;  namely,  the  ques 
tion  of  reconstruction  and  President  Johnson.  In 
this  great  emergency  the  party  performed  its  mis 
sion  with  such  success  as  to  entitle  it  to  the  favor 
able  judgment  of  the  country.  The  President  was 
placed  in  a  hopeless  minority,  and  the  friends  of 
the  Union  in  the  late  rebellious  States  were  given 
the  control  of  affairs.  The  President  was  after 
wards  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  but  after  a  long 
and  exciting  trial  by  the  Senate  he  was  acquitted, 
two-thirds  failing  to  vote  for  conviction.  This  un 
happy  difference  between  the  executive  and  legis 
lative  branches  of  the  government  certainly,  to 
some  extent,  delayed  practical  reconstruction,  but 
that  before  the  close  of  the  first  presidential  term 
after  Mr.  Johnson,  the  seats  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  were  all  filled  and  the  Union  again  fully  re 
stored  and  essentially  harmonious,  is  a  justification 
of  Republican  policy  and  statesmanship  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  dispute.  That,  in  addition, 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  53 

the  result  was  brought  about  with  a  notable  victory 
for  the  civil  and  political  rights  of  millions  who  had 
been  slaves,  and  notwithstanding  the  sturdy  oppo 
sition  of  a  determined  executive,  greatly  adds  to 
the  significance  of  the  triumph. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

(CONTINUED.) 

The  Campaign  of  1868 — Nomination  of  Grant  and  Colfax  by  the  Republi 
cans — An  Easy  Triumph  Over  Seymour  and  Blair — Grant  in  the  Presi 
dential  Chair — Difficulties  which  he  Encountered — The  Ku  Klux  and  the 
Office  Seekers — Grant  astonishes  the  Latter  by  His  Appointments — What 
His  Administration  Accomplished. 

The  National  Convention  of  1868  was  held  in 
the  city  of  Chicago,  and  was  unquestionably  one 
of  the  most  enthusiastic  occasions  of  the  kind 
which  has  been  witnessed  in  the  country.  Just  be 
fore  the  time  for  the  convention,  there  was  a  na 
tional  gathering  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  armies, 
which  brought  together  vast  numbers  of  the  veteran 
defenders  of  the  Republic.  They  remained  in  the 
city  during  the  sittings  of  the  Convention.  The 
hotels  and  boarding  houses  were  packed.  For  a 
week  the  Garden  City  was  jammed  with  people. 
The  Crosby  Opera  House,  in  which  the  Conven 
tion  was  held,  one  of  the  largest  buildings  of  the 
kind  in  the  country — since  destroyed  by  the  great 
fire — could  not  contain  a  tithe  of  the  people  who 
desired  admittance. 

Carl  Schurz  was  selected  as  temporary  chairman. 

(54) 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  55 

Governor  Hawley,  of  Connecticut,  was  the  perma 
nent  President  of  the  Convention  ;  an  admirable 
presiding  officer,  quick  and  correct  in  decision,  ever 
good-natured,  and  having  a  fine  voice  easily  heard 
in  every  part  of  an  immense  auditorium.  The  Con 
vention  adopted  a  platform  as  follows : 

THE    CHICAGO    PLATFORM    OF    1 868. 

1.  We  congratulate  the  country  on  the  assured  success  of  the  reconstruc 
tion  policy  of  Congress,  as  evidenced  by  the  adoption,  in  the  majority  of  the 
States  lately  in  rebellion,  of  constitutions  securing  equal  civil  and  political 
rights  to  all ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government   to  sustain  those  insti 
tutions  and  to  prevent  the  people  of  such  States  from  being  remitted  to  a 
state  of  anarchy 

2.  The  guarantee  by   Congress  of  equal  suffrage  to  all  loyal  men  at  the 
South  was  demanded  by  every  consideration  of  public  safety,  of  gratitude, 
and  of  justice,  and  must  be  maintained  ;  while  the  question  of  suffrage  in  all 
the  loyal  States  properly  belongs  to  the  people  of  those  States. 

3.  We  denounce  all  forms  of  repudiation  as  a  national  crime  ;   and  the 
national  honor  requires  the  payment  of  the  public  indebtedness  in  the  utter 
most  good  faith  to  all  creditors  at  home  and  abroad,  not  only  according  to 
the  letter,  but  the  spirit  of  the  laws  under  which  it  was  contracted. 

4.  It  is  due  to  the  labor  of  the   nation  that  taxation  should  be  equalized, 
and  reduced  as  rapidly  as  the  national  faith  will  permit. 

5.  The  national  debt,  contracted  as  it  has  been  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union  for  all  time  to  come,  should  be  extended  over  a  fair  period  for  redemp 
tion  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest  thereon, 
whenever  it  can  be  honestly  done. 

6.  That  the  best  policy  to  diminish  our  burden  of  debt  is  to  so  improve 
our  credit  that  capitalists  will  seek  to  loan  us  money  at  lower  rates  of  interest 
than  we  now  pay,  and  must  continue  to  pay  so  long  as  repudiation,  partial  or 
total,  open  or  covert,  is  threatened  or  suspected. 

7.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  should  be  administered  with  the 
strictest  economy  ;  and  the  corruptions  which  have  been  so  shamefully  nursed 
and  fostered  by  Andrew  Johnson  call  loudly  for  radical  reform. 

8.  We  profoundly  deplore  the  untimely  and  tragic  death  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  and  regret  the  accession  to  the  Presidency  of  Andrew  Johnson,  who  has 
acted  treacherously  to  the  people  who  elected  him  and   the  cause  he  was 
pledged  to  support  ;  who  has  usurped  high  legislative  and  judicial  functions  ; 
who  has  refused  to  execute  the  laws  ;  who  has  used  his  high  office  to  induce 


56  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

other  officers  to  ignore  and  violate  the  laws  ;  who  has  employed  his  executive 
powers  to  render  insecure  the  property,  the  peace,  liberty,  and  life  of  the 
citizen  ;  who  has  abused  the  pardoning  power  ;  who  has  denounced  the  Na 
tional  Legislature  as  unconstitutional ;  who  has  persistently  and  corruptly 
resisted,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  every  proper  attempt  at  the  reconstruc 
tion  of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  ;  who  has  perverted  tfhe  public  patronage 
into  an  engine  of  wholesale  corruption  ;  and  who  has  been  justly  impeached 
for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  properly  pronounced  guilty  thereof  by 
the  vote  of  35  Senators. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and  other  European  powers,  that  because 
a  man  is  once  a  subject,  he  is  always  so,  must  be  resisted  at  every  hazard  by 
the  United  States,  as  a  relic   of  feudal   times  not  authorized  by  the  laws  of 
nations,  and  at  war  with  our  National  honor  and  independence.     Naturalized 
citizens  are  entitled  to  protection  in  all  their  rights  of  citizenship,  as  though 
they  were  native  born  ;    and  no  citizen   of    the   United    States,    native  or 
naturalized,  must  be  liable  to  arrest  and  imprisonment  by  any  foreign  power 
for  acts  done  or  words  spoken  in  this  country  ;  and,  if  so  arrested  and  im 
prisoned,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  interfere  in  his  behalf. 

10.  Of  all  who  were  faithful  in  the  trials  of  the  late  war,  there  were  none 
entitled  to  more  especial  honor  than  the  brave  soldiers  and  seamen  who  en 
dured  the  hardships  of  campaign   and  cruise,  and  imperiled  their  lives  in  the 
srrvice  of  the  country  ;  the  bounties  and  pensions  provided  by  the  laws  for 
these  brave  defenders  of  the  nation  are  obligations  never  to  be  forgotten  ;  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  gallant  dead  are  the  wards  of  the  people — a  sacred 
legacy  bequeathed  to  the  nation's  protecting  care. 

11.  Foreign  immigration,  which  in  the  past  has  added  so  much  to  the 
wealth,  development,  and  resources,  and  increase  of  power  to  this  Republic, 
the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  and  encouraged 
by  a  liberal  and  just  policy. 

12.  This  Convention  declares  itself  in  sympathy  with  all  oppressed  peoples 
struggling  for  their  rights. 

13.  That  we  highly  commend  the  spirit  of  magnanimity  and  forbearance 
with  which  men  who  have  served  in  the  Rebellion,  but  who  now  frankly  and 
honestly  co-operate  with  us  in  restoring  the  peace  of  the  country  and  recon 
structing  the  Southern  State  Governments  upon  the  basis  of  impartial  justice 
and  equal  rights,  are  received  back  into  the  communion  of  the  loyal  people  ; 
and  we  favor  the  removal  of  the  disqualifications   and  restrictions  imposed 
upon  the  late  Rebels  in  the  same  measure  as  the  spirit  of  disloyalty  will  die 
out,  and  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  loyal  people. 

14.  That  we  recognize  the  great  principles  laid  down  in  the  immortal  De 
claration  of  Independence  as  the  true  foundation  of  democratic  government  ; 
and  we  hail  with  gladness  every  effort  toward  making  these  principles  a  liv 
ing  reality  on  every  inch  of  American  soil. 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  59 

On  motion  of  General  John  A.  Logan,  Chairman 
of  the  Illinois  delegation,  General  Ulysses  S. 
Grant,  of  that  State,  was  unanimously  nominated 
candidate  for  President.  On  the  third  ballot, 
Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President,  defeating  Reuben  E.  Fenton,  of 
New  York,  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  and  others.  The 
platform  and  candidates  were  heartily  approved 
by  the  party,  and  the  campaign  at  once  began  and 
was  carried  on  to  the  end  with  great  zeal.  The  Demo 
cratic  party  held  its  convention  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  the  month  of  July,  nominating  Horatio  Sey 
mour,  of  New  York,  candidate  for  President  and 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice-Presi 
dent.  Grant  and  Colfax  carried  the  States  of  Ala 
bama,  Arkansas,  California,  Connecticut,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Mich 
igan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New 
Hampshire,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Vermont, 
West  Virginia,  Wisconsin.  Seymour  and  Blair 
carried  Delaware,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana 
(by  intimidation),  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  New 
York  and  Oregon.  General  Grant  received  3,013,- 
188  votes,  Mr.  Seymour  receiving  2,703,600,  the 
Republican  majority  being  309,588  votes. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

It  will  not  be  denied  by  those  who  fairly  con 
sider  the  matter,  that  President  Grant  assumed 


6O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

control  of  the  executive  department  of  the  Gov 
ernment  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  difficulty. 
The  administration  of  President  Johnson  had  not 
been  calculated  to  hasten  a  just  system  of  recon 
struction.  The  animosities  of  the  war,  so  far  from 
being  allayed  by  Mr.  Johnson's  policy,  had  been 
aggravated,  and  the  discontent,  among  the  less 
honorable  classes  of  society  manifested  itself  in  se 
cret  organizations  which  became  responsible  for 
many  hideous  crimes,  and  in  some  portions  of  the 
South  a  reign  of  terror.  That  all  this  has  ceased, 
and  that  with  the  interposition  of  martial  law,  as 
expressly  authorized  by  Congress,  in  only  a  single 
instance,  is  largely  due  to  the  personal  influence  of 
President  Grant  himself.  When  he  entered  the 
presidential  office,  many  seats  of  Senators  and  Re 
presentatives  were  vacant — the  result  of  the  sever 
ance  of  relations  with  the  Union  caused  by  seces 
sion — and  a  year  before  the  expiration  of  his  first 
term,  every  seat  was  occupied,  some  by  gentlemen 
who  had  taken  active  part  in  the  rebellion,  but  had 
become  qualified  by  the  magnanimous  clemency  of 
the  Government.  Complete  reconstruction  has, 
therefore,  for  some  time  been  a  practical  fact,  and 
thorough  reconciliation  is  rapidly  being  brought 
about.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  more  could 
have  been  done  in  the  same  time. 

PATRONAGE    AND    ITS    EVILS. 

But  the  embarrassments    of   the  administration 
only    began  with    the    question  of  reconstruction. 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY]  6l 

The  practical  matter  of  patronage  at  once  present 
ed  serious  trouble.  The  President  selected  as  his 
cabinet  E.  B.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  Secretary  of 
State ;  A.  T.  Stewart,  of  New  York,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury ;  A.  E.  Borie,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy ;  Jacob  D.  Cox,  of  Ohio,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior;  John  A.  J.  Creswell,  of  Mary 
land,  Postmaster-General,  and  E.  R.  Hoar,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  Attorney-General.  General  Sherman 
was  allowed  to  act  as  Secretary  of  War  for  a  time. 
Mr.  Stewart  being  found  ineligible,  George  S.  Bout- 
well,  of  Massachusetts,  was  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  Mr.  Washburne  soon  resigned,  and 
Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  was  made  Secretary 
of  State.  Soon  afterwards  General  John  A.  Raw- 
lins,  of  Illinois,  was  made  Secretary  of  War.  He 
was  a  most  admirable  officer,  but  soon  succumbed 
to  a  dread  disease — consumption — by  which  his 
life  had  long  been  threatened.  After  his  death, 
Gen.  William  W.  Belknap,  of  Iowa,  was  appointed. 
His  department  was  assailed  on  a  memorable  occa 
sion,  and  by  able  men,  but  the  assault  was  signally 
and  honorably  repulsed,  and  the  integrity  and  abil 
ity  of  the  Secretary  completely  sustained.  Mr. 
Hoar  was  appointed  one  of  the  Circuit  Judges, 
under  the  act  of  Congress  creating  that  adjunct  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  but  the 
Senate,  in  a  spasm  of  childish  resentment,  refused 
to  confirm  him,  and  he  resigned  the  office  of  At 
torney-General.  Amos  T.  Akerman,  of  Georgia, 
was  appointed  to  the  place,  but  resigning  in  1871, 


62  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Ex-Senator  George  H.  Williams,  of  Oregon,  was 
selected  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Borie  had  previously 
resigned  his  position  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to 
which  Hon.  George  M.  Robeson,  of  New  Jersey, 
was  appointed. 

THE  CIVIL  SERVICE— DIFFICULTIES  IN  ITS  MANAGEMENT. 

The  war  had  vastly  augmented  the  civil  ser 
vice  establishment.  When  President  Grant  en 
tered  the  executive  office,  there  were  single  bu 
reaux  of  departments  more  extensive  than  had 
been  some  of  the  departments,  or  perhaps  any  of 
them,  before  the  war.  These  had  large  numbers 
of  officials  at  the  national  capital  and  throughout 
the  country.  One  of  the  ill  results  of  the  war  was 
this  necessary  increase  of  public  offices.  Many 
persons  in  every  community  directed  their  energies 
to  office-getting  as  though  it  were  a  regular  busi 
ness.  When  President  Grant  was  inaugurated, 
Washington  swarmed  with  office-seekers;  with 
many  thousands  of  men  asking  the  privilege  of 
serving  their  country  in  public  place.  Many  were 
necessarily  disappointed,  and  hence  arose  a  certain 
disaffection  in  the  Republican  party,  which,  aided 
by  some  opposed  to  the  existing  laws  imposing 
duties  on  imports  and  the  plan  of  internal  taxation 
in  being,  culminated  in  the  Cincinnati  Convention 
of  May,  1872,  which  is  treated  at  length  in  subse 
quent  chapters  of  this  book. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  vast  patronage  of  the 
Government  was  distributed  to  the  general  satis- 

'..''.  !'•••/!        i   .      .  •   i    •<?•  •   j  .  .... 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  63 

faction  of  the  body  politic,  and,  in  the  main,  to  the 
good  of  the  service.  It  is  believed  that  no  more 
mistakes  were  made  than  were  inevitable  under  the 
system  in  force. 

Another  great  source  of  embarrassment  to  the 

o 

Administration  of  President  Grant  —  as  it  neces 
sarily  would  have  been  to  any  administration — was 
the  conflicting  opinions  among  members  of  the  Re 
publican  party  upon  ques^o^s  which,  of  compara 
tively  little  moment  during  the  war,  had  by  this 
time  come  to  be  of  grave  importance.  The  patri 
otic  public  willingly  endured  high  taxation  to  sus 
tain  those  who  were  periling  their  lives  to  save  the 
Republic  and  the  cause  of  freedom.  The  war 
ended,  and  the  armies  disbanded,  it  was  proper  for 
the  Government  to  cut  off  many  of  the  sources  of 
revenue.  Upon  the  question  of  how  this  could 
most  wisely  be  done,  there  was,  and  there  still  is, 
wide  difference  of  opinion  among  patriotic  states 
men. 

If  it  was  impossible  to  secure  unanimity  of  senti 
ment  among  Republicans  during  the  war,  when  it 
was  necessary  for  the  Executive  to  exercise  extra 
ordinary  powers,  and  the  people  to  make  extraordi 
nary  sacrifices  both  of  substance  and  opinion,  it 
would  require  a  miracle  to  secure  such  unanimity 
in  an  era  necessarily  requiring  many  changes  of 
policy,  many  changes  of  law.  The  ocean  is  said  to 
be  more  dangerous  to  navigators  just  after  a  storm 
than  during  its  prevalence.  There  is  an  irregular 
wildness  about  the  waves  as  they  settle  back  to 


64  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

calmness,  which  is  peculiarly  perilous.  Such  was 
the  political  situation  when  President  Grant  as 
sumed  office.  It  was  more  difficult  to  administer 
the  Government  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  party  in 
power  after  the  war  than  it  had  been  during  the 
war. 

SUCCESS  OF  GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

And  yet  there  has  been  constant  progress  and 
success.  Taxation  has  been  greatly  reduced,  and 
that  without  giving  so  rude  a  shock  to  systems  in 
being,  to  which  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
country  had  become  accustomed,  as  to  produce  a 
financial  panic.  Large  numbers  of  officials  in  the 
internal  revenue  department  have  been  dispensed 
with  by  reason  of  this  reduction,  and  taxation  by 
this  mode  now  rests  but  upon  a  few  articles.  The 
free  list  in  the  tariff  has  been  considerably  increased, 
and  duties  upon  a  large  number  of  the  necessaries 
of  life  and  national  development  have  been  reduced. 
The  expenditures  of  the  government  have  been  con 
siderably  diminished.  The  national  debt  has  been 
paid  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  millions  of  dol 
lars,  in  round  numbers,  during  the  first  three  years 
of  President  Grant's  administration.  A  large 
amount  of  the  government  bonds,  bearing  six  per 
cent,  interest  per  annum  has  been  converted  into  a 
like  amount  of  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest. 
Thus,  by  the  action  of  a  Republican  Congress,  ably 
sustained  by  a  Republican  administration,  have  the 
finances  of  the  nation  been  successfully  conducted, 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  65 

and  the  public  credit  maintained  against  every 
assault,  and  even  from  time  to  time  improved  in 
the  great  commercial  marts  of  Christendom.  Nor 
has  there  been  any  considerable  revulsion  in  the 
business  of  the  country.  The  material  wealth  of 
the  Republic  has  been  constantly  augmenting;  its 
great  cities  have  been  all  the  time  prosperous ;  the 
agricultural  capacities  of  the  nation  have  never 
ceased  to  grow ;  labor  has  been  well  paid,  and  the 
laboring  man  has  constantly  grown  in  the  public 
esteem  and  in  power;  the  development  of  all  the 
material  interests  of  the  land  has  simply  been  stu 
pendous.  Even  the  South,  which  suffered  most  of 
the  calamities  resulting  from  the  war,  is  in  a  situa 
tion  of  rapid  recuperation,  and  will  surely  be  more 
wealthy  and  progressive  than  ever  before,  ere  the 
first  centennial  of  American  Independence. 

These  plain  facts,  which  are  known  and  read  of 
all  men,  demonstrate  the  general  success  of  Presi 
dent  Grant's  administration,  and  show  that  the  Re 
publican  party  continues  to  be  entitled  to  the  con 
fidence  of  the  American  people. 


CHAPTER   V. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY, 

(CONTINUED.) 

The  Campaign  of  1872 — Action  of  the  Forty-Second  Congress  at  its  Second 
Session — $60,000,000  Taxes  Taken  Off— Amnesty  Extended  Greatly — 
Force  Bill  Discontinued — The  House  Votes  to  Abolish  the  Franking 
Privilege — Everything  Investigated — Call  for  a  National  Convention — 
Spirit  of  the  Party — Unanimous  for  Grant — The  Convention  is  Held — 
Its  Doings  in  Detail — Harmony  and  Enthusiasm — Platform  of  1872 — 
Grant's  Letter  Accepting  the  Nomination. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  in  Congress  next 
winter?"  the  writer  asked  of  one  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  Senators,  nearly  a  year  ago. 

"  O,  make  Presidents,"  was  the  answer. 

Such  being  confessedly  the  main  purpose  of 
both  political  parties  during  the  session  next  pre 
ceding  each  Presidential  election,  we  may  properly 
reckon  the  political  campaign  of  1872  as  having 
commenced  with  the  assembling  of  the  second  ses 
sion  of  the  Forty-second  Congress,  on  the  first  Mon 
day  of  December,  1871. 

The  meaning  of  the  Senator's  expression  is  ob 
vious,  viz  :  that  the  Congressmen  of  each  party 
would  endeavor  to  shape  legislation  so  as  to  secure 
the  success  of  their  party  in  the  ensuing  campaign  ; 
and  this  means,  of  course,  where  voters  are  as  free 
and  intelligent  as  in  America,  that  the  dominant 
party  will  endeavor  to  enact  good  and  wholesome 

(66) 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  67 

laws,  such  as  the  people  will  approve,  while  the  min 
ority  will  strive,  in  the  debates  and  in  multitudin 
ous  investigations  and  newspaper  attacks,  Sena 
torial  "  philippics,"  etc.,  to  create  the  impression 
among  the  people  that  all  the  virtue  resides  in  their 
ranks,  all  the  vice  in  that  of  the  majority  and  in  the 
existing-  administration. 

o 

ATTACKS    ON    THE    ADMINISTRATION. 

Of  this  sort  of  tactics  were  the  attack  on  the 
Navy  Department  in  the  House,  the  tirade  of 
Charles  Sumner  in  the  Senate  and  other  similar 
demonstrations  against  the  Executive  and  his  cabi 
net,  and  against  the  majority  party  in  Congress. 
No  less  than  fifteen  different  investigations,  founded 
on  this  or  that  man's  allegations  against  the  con 
duct  of  the  Government,  in  one  department  or  an 
other,  were  asked  by  the  Democrats  or  the  dis 
affected  Republicans  during  the  session.  These 
investigations  were  promptly  ordered  by  the  con 
sent  of  the  majority — the  only  case  where  any  de 
bate  occurred  being  on  the  resolution  concerning 
the  sale  of  arms  to  French  agents,  introduced  by 
Mr.  Sumner  in  the  Senate,  and  preceded  by  a  pre 
amble  which  contained  a  virulent  attack  on  the  ad 
ministration,  and  which  assumed  as  proven  all  the 
allegations  made  by  the  enemies  of  the  Govern 
ment.  This  the  Senate  would  not  pass,  but  it  did 
order  the  investigation,  and  gave  Mr.  Schurz,  the 
instigator  of  the  charges,  the  privilege  of  examin 
ing  or  cross-examining  all  witnesses.  The  investi- 


68  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

gations  were,  for  the  most  part,  conducted  openly, 
and  all  the  testimony  was  published ;  and  the  re 
sults  (which  are  given  at  some  length  in  a  subse 
quent  chapter)  were  found  to  strengthen,  rather 
than  weaken  the  position  of  the  administration  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  Never  was  there  so  co 
gent  an  illustration  of  the  proverb,  "great  cry  and 
little  wool,"  as  was  furnished  by  these  investigations 
and  the  clamors  which  preceded  them. 

ACTS    OF    CONGRESS. 

The  laws  enacted  by  the  Forty-Second  Congress 
at  this  session  were  also  of  a  nature  to  strengthen 
the  dominant  party.  Among  the  most  important 
of  these  were  the  act  reducing  the  taxes,  internal 
and  import,  by  $53,000,000  a  year,  estimated  upon 
the  receipts  of  last  year ;  the  act  conferring  addi 
tional  civil  rights  upon  the  colored  class  of  citizens, 
hitherto  discriminated  against  by  society,  in  despite 
of  the  manifest  spirit  of  the  recent  amendments  to 
the  national  Constitution ;  the  act  granting  com 
plete  amnesty  to  25,000  rebels  of  the  late  war,  who 
had  hitherto  labored  under  certain  political  dis 
abilities  ;  the  act  extending  to  soldiers,  widows  and 
orphans,  the  benefit  of  the  bounty  laws,  and  the  act 
for  facilitating  the  entry  of  land  by  soldiers  entitled 
to  bounty ;  all  of  which  became  law  by  the  Presi 
dent's  signature.  Nor  is  the  present  Republican 
Congress  less  praiseworthy  for  what  it  has  left  un 
done  than  for  what  it  has  done.  The  still  rampant 
spirit  of  outlawry  in  many  sections  of  the  South, 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  69 

as  proven  before  the  Joint  Committee  on  Southern 
Outrages,  offered  a  great  temptation  (which  was 
pressed  by  many  Southern  members)  to  continue 
the  bill  authorizing  the  suspension  of  the  habeas 
corpus  by  the  President — a  privilege  which  termi 
nated  by  limitation  with  the  expiration  of  the  late 
session.  The  enemies  of  the  Republican  party 
would  have  liked  very  much  to  see  the  majority 
vote  to  continue  this  law,  so  that  an  outcry  against 
"  federal  usurpation"  could  be  made.  They  would 
also  have  liked  to  see  the  majority  committed  to  a 
bill  for  the  federal  regulation  of  the  Southern  elec 
tions,  with  the  authorization  of  such  measures  of  en 
forcement  as  should  furnish  grounds  for  some  clamor 
about  "bayonet  rule."  But  the  party  refused  to 
commit  itself  to  such  acts,  and  also  refrained  in  a 
provoking  way  from  doing  much  that  was  indis 
creet  in  the  way  of  land  grants  and  private  appro 
priations,  out  of  which  the  Opposition  orators  and 
journals  could  forge  any  effective  weapons  for  the 
campaign.  In  short,  the  freshest  acts  of  the  Re 
publican  party,  even  as  shown  in  its  representation 
in  Congress — the  place  where,  if  anywhere,  vulner 
able  points  may  usually  be  found — are  probably  less 
partisan,  and  no  less  just,  moderate  and  virtuous 
than  those  of  any  political  party,  similarly  repre 
sented,  in  any  previous  period  of  our  history — even 
in  the  "good  old  days"  of  Andrew  Jackson,  or  any 
other  canonized  politician  whom  we  are  accustomed 
to  laud  in  our  allusions.  Such  a  record  of  course 
fortifies  a  party,  and  should  always  be  striven  after, 


7<D  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

not  only  before,  but  after  national  elections  ;  and 
nothing  will  tend  so  strongly  towards  it  as  the  prin 
ciple  of  progressiveness  and  catholicity  of  opinion 
which  has  come  to  prevail  among  Republican  states 
men,  (especially  in  the  journalistic  estate  and  in  the 
lower  house  of  Congress)  and  which  is  now  recog 
nized  as  one  of  the  quickening  elements  of  the  Re 
publican  creed. 

THE    PHILADELPHIA    CONVENTION. 

Still  fresher  than  the  acts  of  Congress,  however, 
and  perhaps  more  authoritative,  as  being  the  more 
direct  expression  of  the  popular  sentiments  of  the 
party,  are  the  acts  and  declarations  of  the  National 
Republican  Convention  of  1872,  held  at  Philadel 
phia,  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  June.  And  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  body  we  must  now  record. 

The  Philadelphia  Convention  was  called  by  the 
National  Republican  Committee,  in  accordance  with 
party  usages,  after  a  prolonged  session  of  the  Com 
mittee  at  Washington.  The  call  bears  date  Janu 
ary  nth,  1872.  It  enumerates  the  achievements 
and  the  leading  present  tenets  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  closes  with  this  invitation  : 

"To  continue  and  firmly  establish  its  fundamen 
tal  principles,  we  invite  the  co-operation  of  all  cit 
izens  of  the  United  States." 

The  National  Committee,  in  a  special  resolution, 
sent  by  telegraph  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  urged 
all  holders  of  office  under  the  national  administration 
to  abstain  from  participating  in  local  conventions, 
or  officiating  as  delegates  ;  and  the  injunction  was 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  71 

so  generally  obeyed  that,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  the  Opposition  freely  stigmatized  it  as  the 
"Federal  Office-holders'  Convention,"  and  Mr.  Gree- 
ley's  paper  usually  called  it  "Grant's  Convention," 
there  were  not  two  dozen  such  office-holders  in  the 
Convention — i.  e.  a  little  more  than  one  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  number  of  delegates  and  alternates. 

THE    POPULAR    FEELING. 

Even  before  this  call  was  issued,  the  Senators, 
journalists  and  other  public  men  who  were  dis 
pleased  with  General  Grant's  administration,  or 
who  had  reasons,  personal  or  otherwise,  for  desiring 
a  change  in  the  government,  had  begun  to  agitate 
the  subject  of  such  a  change.  This  had  been  done 
chiefly  by  indirection,  however ;  the  only  method 
resorted  to  being  free  criticism  of  Grant's  adminis 
tration,  and  a  studied  tone  of  disrespect,  or  a  habit 
of  sly  innuendo  when  speaking  of  the  President. 
What  these  Anti-Grant  journalists,  etc.,  did  after 
discovering  the  drift  of  popular  feeling  within  the 
party  will  be  told  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  That 
the  drift  was  decidedly  and  irresistibly  toward  Grant 
as  the  nominee  for  another  term  of  four  years,  was 
soon  plainly  manifest. 

GRANT    ENDORSED. 

The  Republicans  of   Connecticut  were  the  first 
to  meet  after  this  call  was  issued.     At  their  conven 
tion,  at  Hartford,  January  24th,  they  avowed  their 
"undiminished  confidence  in  the  patriotism,  integ- 
5 


72  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

rity  and  ability  of  President  Grant."  Those  of 
Florida  followed,  on  April  nth,  with  a  resolution, 
unanimously  adopted,  instructing  delegates  to  use 
"  every  effort  to  secure  his  [Grant's]  renomination." 

The  Indiana  Republicans,  commemorating  with 
their  meeting,  as  usual,  the  sacred  birthday  of 
Washington,  declared  in  their  resolutions  that  the 
administration  of  General  Grant  had  been  "consist 
ent  with  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  eminently  just,  wise  and  humane";  and  they 
accordingly  instructed  their  delegates  at  Philadel 
phia  to  "vote  for  the  renomination  of  Grant  and 
Colfax." 

Iowa,  at  her  convention,  at  Des  Moines,  on  the 
27th  of  March,  was  no  less  explicit  and  positive 
in  her  declarations  and  instructions. 

South  Carolina  had  already  done  the  same,  at 
Columbia,  on  the  igth  of  February.  And  Missou 
ri,  favorite  nesting-place  of  the  so-called  Liberals, 
declared,  on  the  same  day  with  Indiana,  her  "un 
swerving  confidence  in  the  integrity,  patriotism, 
and  zealous  devotion  of  the  present  Chief  Magis 
trate." 

Maine,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Oregon,  Massachu 
setts,  Rhode  Island,  Wisconsin,  Pennsylvania  and 
other  States  joined  in  the  chorus  of  approval  until 
it  echoed  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from  the  Gulf 
to  the  Lakes. 

THE    CONVENTION    MEETS. 

When,  therefore,  the  Republicans  of  the  nation 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  73 

met  at  Philadelphia,  they  had  a  simple  task  before 
them,  so  far  as  the  nomination  of  a  Presidentali 
candidate  was  concerned.  They  assembled  at  noon, 
on  the  5th  of  June,  in  the  spacious  Academy  of 
Music,  at  Philadelphia,  which  building  had  been 
gorgeously  draped  and  decorated  for  the  occasion. 
Never  did  a  finer  and  more  thoroughly  representative 
body  of  men  assemble  for  a  similar  purpose  in  this 
country.  Coming  fresh  from  the  people,  they  were 
possessed  by  an  intense  and  unanimous  enthusiasm 
for  the  cause  which  they  came  to  organize — the  re 
flected  and  concentrated  glow  of  that  great  popular 
heart,  from  which  all  the  acts  of  the  convention 
seemed  to  spring. 

It  was  evident  that  the  Republican  masses  did 
not  intend  to  be  trifled  with  in  the  present  crisis, 
and  that  they  sent  up,  therefore,  to  Philadelphia, 
delegates  composed  of  their  strongest  men.  It 
was  a  general  remark  among  those  who  came  as 
lookers-on,  and  many  of  whom  were  avowedly  hos 
tile  to  the  object  of  the  convention,  that  the  array 
of  well  known  men — men  of  authority  and  influ 
ence,  not  derived  from  their  present  office — had 
never  been  excelled,  if  equalled,  in  any  similar 
gathering.  When  William  E.  Chandler,  as  Secre 
tary  of  the  National  Republican  Committee,  called 
the  assemblage  to  order,  at  1 2  o'clock,  on  Wednes 
day,  his  gavel  was  obeyed  by  nearly  a  score  of 
Governors  of  States,  by  twenty-four  ex-Senators 
of  the  United  States,  by  fifteen  members  of  Con 
gress,  two  retired  Cabinet  officers,  forty  or  fifty 


74  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

generals  of  the  great  Union  army,  and  other  dig 
nitaries  of  wide  public  recognition  too  numerous 
to  particularize.  Among  the  Governors  of  States, 
with  or  without  the  ex,  we  can  now  call  to  mind 
sixteen  or  seventeen ;  viz.,  Claflin,  of  Massachusetts ; 
Smyth,  of  New  Hampshire;  Smith,  of  Vermont; 
Hawley,  of  Connecticut ;  Burnside,  of  Rhode  Isl 
and  ;  Orr,  of  South  Carolina ;  Parsons,  of  Alabama; 
Oglesby,  of  Illinois  ;  Noyes  and  Hayes,  of  Ohio ; 
Lane  and  Baker,  of  Indiana;  Morgan,  of  New 
York;  Fairchilcl,  of  Wisconsin;  Howard,  of  Mich 
igan  ;  and  Wells,  of  Virginia.  Among  the  heroes 
of  the  War  for  the  Union  were  Generals  Logan, 
Woodford,  Fairchild,  Hawley,  Burnside,  Sol.  Mere 
dith,  Thos.  S.  Allen,  E.  F.  Noyes,  and  a  host  of 
others,  many  of  whom  have,  since  doffing  their 
army  blue,  been  honored  by  a  grateful  country 
with  official  stations,  the  title  of  which  has  super 
seded  the  military  "  handles"  of  their  names. 

But  it  was  not  of  generals  and  politicians  alone 
that  the  convention  was  made  up.  Learning  had 
its  representatives  there  in  goodly  numbers,  and 
prominent  among  them  were  President  White,  of 
Cornell  University,  and  Prof.  Steele,  of  Vermont, 
the  latter  of  whom  had  the  honor  of  writing  the 
most  acceptable  of  the  many  platforms  submitted 
for  the  use  of  the  convention.  Philanthropy  and 
reform  were  there  in  the  person  of  the  venerable 
Gerrit  Smith,  Nestor  of  the  Anti-Slavery  army, 
and  a  man  whose  milk  of  human  kindness  had 
never  been  soured  by  personal  jealousy,  like  that 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  75 

of  Charles  Sumner.  The  business  community, 
which  seems  to  have  awakened  earlier  than  usual 
to  the  importance  of  this  campaign,  was  repre 
sented,  perhaps,  more  ably  than  ever  before  in  a 
similar  convention.  When  we  mention  Alexander 
H.  Rice,  ex-mayor  of  Boston;  Horace  B.  Claflin, 
the  leading  New  York  dry  goods  merchant;  John 
A.  Griswold,  the  Troy  iron  manufacturer;  J.  Y. 
Scammon,  the  Chicago  banker ;  Horace  Fairbanks, 
the  largest  manufacturer  in  Vermont ;  Wm.  Orton, 
head  of  the  telegraph  business  in  the  United  States; 
Thaddeus  C.  Pound  and  J.  G.  Thorpe,  prominent 
in  the  Wisconsin  lumber  business,  and  Eber  B. 
Ward,  the  great  iron  manufacturer  of  the  North 
west,  we  have  named  but  a  tithe  of  the  solid  busi 
ness  men  of  the  country  who  participated  in  this 
convention  as  delegates.  Many  more  were  inter 
ested  lookers-on,  and  expressed  earnestly  their 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  the  convention  in  the 
work  of  the  campaign. 

Thus  constituted  and  thus  determined,  the  dele 
gates  came  together  in  the  historical  town  of  Phil 
adelphia.  No  better  city  could  have  been  selected, 
on  two  accounts  :  first,  there  were  better  hotel  facil 
ities  than  anywhere  else,  except  New  York;  and 
second,  there  was  more  local  enthusiasm  prevailing 
to  add  eclat  to  the  occasion.  The  fall  election  com 
ing  on  early  in  Pennsylvania,  there  were  already  a 
great  many  Republicans  organized  into  clubs  and 
prepared  for  public  demonstrations.  These,  re-in- 
forced  by  numerous  corps  from  abroad — one  from 


76  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Boston,  one  from  Washington,  one  from  Pittsburgh, 
and  numerous  others  from  Lancaster  and  elsewhere 
in  Pennsylvania,  paraded  the  streets  with  stirring 
music  and  significant  banners  by  day,  or  with 
torches  and  transparencies  by  night,  or  joined  in 
mass-meetings  with  unprecedented  numbers  and 
enthusiasm.  Their  music  filled  their  streets  with 
its  "voluptuous  swell,"  and  their  brave  faces  and  lusty 
huzzas  inspired  enthusiasm  in  every  breast.  On 
Wednesday,  at  noon,  as  already  mentioned,  the 
convention  assembled  and  organized  itself  for  busi 
ness.  Hon.  Morton  McMichael,  ex-Mayor  of 
Philadelphia,  was  made  temporary  chairman,  and, 
in  accordance  with  notice  previously  served,  the 
various  State  delegations  announced  to  him,  as 
called  upon,  their  own  selections  for  the  following 
officers,  of  which  each  State  furnished  a  complete 
set :  Vice-presidents  and  secretaries  of  the  conven 
tion  ;  committees  on  resolutions,  on  credentials, 
on  rules  and  on  permanent  organization. 

The  permanent  officers  of  the  convention,  who 
assumed  their  functions  just  before  the  adjourn 
ment  of  the  first  session,  were  as  follows : 

President — Thomas  Settle,  of  North  Carolina. 

Vice-Presidents — Alabama,  Paul  Strobach  ;  Arkansas,  Elijah  Baxter  ;  Cali 
fornia,  H.  S.  Sargent ;  Connecticut,  Sabin  L.  Gage  ;  Delaware,  Isaac  June  ; 
Georgia,  B.  F.  Conley ;  Illinois,  Emory  A.  Storrs  ;  Indiana,  Gen.  Solomon 
D.  Meredith  ;  Iowa,  N.  H.  Kevers  ;  Kansas,  John  C.  Carpenter ;  Kentucky, 
R.  M.  Keely  ;  Lousiana,  Louis  F.  Frazer  ;  Maine,  P.  F.  Rohey ;  Maryland, 
Alexander  H.  Rice  ;  Michigan,  Eber  B.  Ward  ;  Minnesota,  C.  F.  Benedict ; 
Mississippi,  R.  W.  Fleemey  ;  Nebraska,  John  S.  Bowen  ;  New  Hampshire, 
William  H.  Y.  Hackett  ;  New  Jersey,  Dudley  S.  Gregory  ;  New  York,  H.  B. 
Claflin  ;  North  Carolina,  Edward  Cantwell ;  Ohio,  Lt.  Gov.  Jacob  Mueller  ; 
Oregon,  John  P.  Booth  ;  Pennsylvania,  H.  W.  Oliver  ;  Rhode  Island,  A.  E. 


<»  Vk^  •!        i  nTiiiB^^^^.  jsi£/*® 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  79 

Burnside  ;  North  Carolina,  A.  J.  Rensier  ;  Tennessee,  William  H.  Wisner  ; 
Texas,  A.  B.  Norton  ;  Vermont,  H.  Fairbanks  ;  Virginia,  Charles  T.  Mallard  ; 
West  Virginia,  Charles  Horton  ;  Wisconsin,  Hon.  Lucius  Fairchild  ;  Florida, 
Dennis  Evan  ;  Colorado,  George  M.  Chilcot  ;  District  of  Columbia,  John  F. 
Cooke  ;  Idaho,  John  R.  McBride ;  Wyoming,  J.  M.  Donnellon ;  Nevada, 
Gen.  John  Benjamin. 

Secretaries — H.  H.  Bingham,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  forty-one  others — one 
from  each  State  and  territory. 

Committee  on  Platform — Alabama,  R.  M.  Ruggles  ; Arkansas,  W.  W.  Way  ; 
California,  J.  H.  Withington  ;  Connecticut,  Gen.  J.  R.  Hawley  ;  Delaware, 
Henry  F.  Pickles  ;  Florida.  J.  W.  Johnson  ;  Georgia,  D.  A.  Walker  ;  Illinois, 
Herman  Raster  ;  Indiana,  Charles  Krug  ;  Iowa,  William  Vandetter  ;  Kan- 
sas,  John  C.  Carpenter  ;  Kentucky,  James  Speed  ;  Louisiana,  John  Ray ; 
Maine,  J .  P.  Pullen  ;  Maryland,  Thomas  A.  Spence  ;  Massachusetts,  J.  B. 
D.  Coggswell ;  Michigan,  W.  A.  Howard  ;  Minnesota,  A.  E.  Hicks  ;  Missis 
sippi,  John  R.  Linch  ;  Missouri,  John  Stover  ;  Nebraska,  John  B.  Weston  ; 
Nevada,  L.  H.  Head  ;  New  Hampshire,  Osborne  Ray  ;  New  Jersey,  Charles 
Hewitt  ;  New  York,  James  N.  Matthews  ;  North  Carolina,  J.  W.  Hood  ; 
Ohio,  B.  R.  Hayes  ;  Oregon,  H.  R.  Kincaid  ;  Pennsylvania,  G.  W.  Scofield ; 
Rhode  Island,  William  Goddard  ;  South  Carolina,  R.  B.  Elliott ;  Tennessee, 
A.  J.  Ricks  ;  Texas,  J.  W.  Talbot ;  Vermont,  Benjamin  H.  Steele  ;  Virginia, 
Col.  Ed.  Daniels  ;  West  Virginia,  Thomas  B.  Swan  ;  Wisconsin,  Thomas  S. 
Allen  ;  Colorado,  Jerome  B.  Chaffee  ;  District  of  Columbia,  A.  R.  Sheppard  ; 
Idaho,  J.  Curtis ;  Montana,  W.  F.  Sanders  ;  Wyoming,  J.  W.  Donnellton. 

All  that  was  accomplished  of  moment  on  the  first 
day  of  the  convention  was  the  reporting  of  the  per 
manent  officers  by  the  committee  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  While  the  Committee  on  Perma 
nent  Organization  was  out  deliberating,  speech- 
making  was  in  order,  and  Senators  Morton  and 
Logan,  who  were  occupying  a  proscenium  box,  were 
successively  called  upon  and  responded  briefly,  the 
former  finding  time,  however,  to  enter  into  a  careful 
consideration  of  the  duties  now  pressing  on  the 
Republican  party,  and  a  cogent  answer  to  those 
who  pretend  that  the  mission  of  the  party  is  ac 
complished.  The  Senators  were  followed  by  Ex- 


8O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Governor  Oglesby,  of  Illinois,  Ex-Governor  Orr, 
of  South  Carolina,  and  by  two  colored  delegates, 
W.  H.  Gray,  of  Arkansas,  and  R.  B.  Elliott,  M.  C, 
of  South  Carolina.  This  negro  oratory  was  a  pe 
culiar  feature  of  the  convention,  and  was  continued 
to  some  extent  on  the  following  day — in  every  case 
with  great  credit  to  the  newly  enfranchised  race, 
whose  representatives  had  never  before  been  heard 
in  a  national  convention  of  one  of  the  great  politi 
cal  parties.  The  principal  speakers  of  sable  skin 
were  the  two  above  named  and  Messrs.  Lynch,  of 
Mississippi  [Secretary  of  State],  and  Harris,  of 
Georgia,  all  of  whom  were  greatly  to  be  commended 
for  their  keen  insight  into  the  main  issues,  and  their 
sharp  method  of  bringing  the  subject  home  to  their 
auditors'  comprehension.  The  colored  race  was 
certainly  well  represented  in  this  convention,  and 
its  representatives  have  reason  to  be  gratified  with 
the  impression  which  they  made.  It  should  be  re 
marked  here  that  two  or  three  of  the  State  dele 
gations  had  colored  men  for  Chairmen,  and  that  the 
African  nationality  had  three  places  upon  the  Plat 
form  Committee,  and  was  also  well  represented 
upon  the  other  committees. 

NO    CONTESTS. 

After  the  speeches  had  been  made  and  the  Com 
mittee  on  Permanent  Organization  heard  from,  the 
"slate"  made  out  by  that  body  was  adopted,  and 
Judge  Settle,  the  permanent  President,  made  a  little 
inaugural,  which  closed  the  first  day's  proceedings. 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  8l 

* 

The  Committee  on  Credentials,  whose  duty  of 
settling  contested  seats  is  usually  quite  arduous, 
was  not  heard  from  until  the  second  day.  Indeed, 
their  office  proved  to  be  a  sinecure,  for  of  all  the 
752  seats  in  the  convention,  not  a  single  one  was 
contested.  Yes,  there  were  two — from  far  Utah, 
which,  of  course,  had  to  have  a  Mormon  and  a  Gen 
tile  representation.  The  latter  won,  as  might  have 
been  expected  in  view  of  the  more  than  doubtful 
Republicanism  of  the  Young  Party.  As  the  dele 
gates  from  the  land  of  the  Saints  were  only  two  out 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-two,  it  can  be  readily 
seen  that  the  contest  in  that  quarrelsome  quarter 
did  not  shake  the  convention  very  severely. 

THE    PLATFORM. 

On  Thursday  morning  the  serious  work  of  the 
convention  was  to  commence  with,  it  was  hoped,  a 
prompt  report  of  the  Platform  Committee.  This 
body,  however,  was  not  ready  to  report.  Its  mem 
bers  had  met  on  the  previous  evening,  and  found  on 
their  table  a  stack  of  resolutions  big  enough  to  have 
filled  the  hats  of  all  the  forty-two  members,  and 
still  left  a  surplus  larger  than  was  necessary  to 
equip  a  party  for  the  campaign.  To  dispose  of  this 
embarrass  de  richesse,  a  sub-committee  of  nine  was 
appointed,  and  this  sub-committee  ground  away 
until  near  morning.  By  that  time  they  would  have 
been  through  with  their  job,  perhaps,  had  not  the 
pressure  in  behalf  of  certain  particular  propositions 
been  renewed  on  Thursday  before  the  full  commit- 


82  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

* 

tee.  There  were  several  complete  sets  of  declar 
ations  and  resolutions,  principally  those  of  Dr.  Lor- 
ing,  of  Boston  ;  of  George  Wm.  Curtis,  of  New 
York;  of  Prof.  Steele,  of  Vermont,  and  of  Prof. 
Edward  Daniels,  a  member  of  the  committee  from 
Virginia,  and  editor  of  the  Richmond  State  Jour 
nal.  None  of  these  were  adopted  in  any  consider 
able  part.  The  phraseology  of  the  platform  is  due 
more  to  General  Joseph  Hawley  than  to  anybody 
else,  though  Judge  Scofield,  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
chairman  of  the  committee.  Of  course  the  most 
important  question  was  that  of  reconstruction,  and 
upon  this  the  Southern  delegates  were  clamorous 
for  something  radical  and  unequivocal.  Hence  it 
was,  that  after  declaring  in  the  second  and  third 
paragraphs  that  complete  civil  and  political  liberty 
should  be  guaranted  to  the  colored  men  of  the 
South,  and  that  the  recent  amendments  to  the  Na 
tional  Constitution  should  be  enforced  according  to 
their  spirit,  the  committee  afterward  came  to  adopt, 
in  the  twelfth  paragraph,  a  specific  and  positive  in 
dorsement  of  all  the  anti-Ku  Klux  measures  of  the 
President  and  Congress.  There  was  likewise  much 
pressure  for  a  recognition  of  the  cause  of  woman. 
Mrs.  Lucy  Stone  Blackwell  labored  with  certain 
members  of  the  committee  in  behalf  of  the  reso 
lution  adopted  last  winter  by  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature.  With  other  members,  Miss  Anthony 
became  eloquent.  To  tell  the  truth,  the  committee 
were  rather  desirous  of  saying  something  in  behalf 
of  enlarged  opportunities  and  education  for  the 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  83 

softer  sex,  with  an  admission  coupled,  if  necessary, 
that  the  question  of  their  admission  to  any  "  ad 
ditional  rights"  was  worthy  of  consideration.  This 
was  finally  incorporated  into  the  platform,  in  the 
fourteenth  paragraph  ;  though  in  such  a  diplomatic 
and  general  way  that  one  is  almost  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  representatives  of  the  oppressed  sex  are 
satisfied  with  it.  They  usually  prefer  stronger  meat 
when  it  comes  to  expressions  of  opinion  on  their 
especial  topics. 

The  resolution  on  the  subject  of  capital  and  labor 
is  essentially  the  same  as  that  submitted  by  Wen 
dell  Phillips,  and  is  therefore  acceptable  to  the 
powerful  body  of  voters  whom  he  represents — the 
Labor  Reformers. 

The  result  of  the  committee's  labors,  as  reported 
and  adopted,  nem.  con.,  is  the  following  declaration 
of  principles: 

The  Republican  party  of  the  United  States  assembled  in  National  Conven 
tion  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  5th  and  6th  days  of  June,  1872,  again 
declares  its  faith,  appeals  to  its  history,  and  announces  its  position  upon  the 
questions  before  the  country. 

i.  During  eleven  years  of  supremacy  it  has  accepted  with  grand  courage 
the  solemn  duties  of  the  time.  It  suppressed  a  gigantic  re 
bellion,  emancipated  four  millions  of  slaves,  decreed  the  equal 
citizenship  of  all,  and  established  universal  suffrage.  Exhibiting  unparalleled 
magnanimity,  it  criminally  punished  no  man  for  political  offences,  and  warmly 
welcomed  all  who  proved  loyalty  by  obeying  the  laws  and  dealing  justly  with 
their  neighbors.  It  has  steadily  decreased  with  firm  hand  the  resultant  disor 
ders  of  a  great  war,  and  initiated  a  wise  and  humane  policy  towards  the  Indians. 
The  Pacific  railroad,  and  similar  vast  enterprises,  have  been  generally  aided 
and  successfully  conducted  ;  the  public  lands  freely  given  to  actual  settlers  ; 
immigration  protected  and  encouraged,  and  a  full  acknowledgment  of  the 
naturalized  citizens'  rights  secured  from  European  powers.  A  uniform 
national  currency  has  been  provided,  repudiation  frowned  down,  the  national 
credit  sustained  under  most  extraordinary  burdens,  and  new  bonds  negotiated 


84  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

at  lower  rates.  The  revenues  have  been  carefully  collected  and  honestly 
applied  ;  despite  annual  large  reductions  of  the  rates  of  taxation,  the  public 
debt  has  been  reduced  during  General  Grant's  Presidency  at  the  rate  of  a 
hundred  millions  a  year  ;  great  financial  crises  have  been  avoided,  and  peace 
and  plenty  prevail  throughout  the  land.  Menacing  foreign  difficulties  have 
been  peacefully  and  honorably  composed,  and  the  honor  and  power  of  the 
nation  kept  in  high  respect  throughout  the  world. 

This  glorious  record  of  the  past  is  the  party's  best  pledge  for  the  future. 
We  believe  the  people  will  not  entrust  the  government  to  any  party  or  com 
bination  of  men  composed  chiefly  of  those  who  have  resisted  every  step  of 
this  beneficial  progress. 

2.  Complete  liberty  and  exact  equality  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil,  polit 

ical  and  public  rights   should  be  established   and  effectually 
maintained  throughout  the  Union  by  efficient  and  appropriate 
State  and  Federal  legislation.     Neither  the  law  nor  its  admin 
istration  should  admit  of  any  discrimination  in  respect  of  citizens,  by  reason 
of  race,  creed,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

3.  The  recent  amendments   to  the   National  Constitution  should  be  cor 

dially  sustained,  because  they  are  right,  not  merely  tolerated 
Late  Con  titu-  J  ,  J  ,  ' 

tional  Amend-    because  they  are  law,  and  should  be  carried  out   according  to 

their  spirit  by  appropriate  legislation, the  enforcement  of  which 
can  safely  be  entrusted  only  to  the  party  that  secured  those  amendments. 

4.  The  National  Government  should   seek  to   maintain  honorable  peace 
Foreipn  Pol-      w^tn  a^  nations,  protecting  the  citizens  everywhere,  and  sym- 

icy-  pathizing  with  all  peoples  who  strive  for  greater  liberty. 

5.  Any  system  of  the  civil  service  under  which  the  subordinate  positions 

of  the  Government  are  considered  rewards  for  mere  party 
^Reform™06  zea^  *s  fatally  demoralizing  ;  and  we  therefore  favor  a  reform  of 

the  system  by  laws  which  shall  abolish  the  evils  of  patronage, 
and  make  honesty,  efficiency,  and  fidelity  the  essential  qualifications  for  pub 
lic  positions,  without  practically  creating  a  life-tenure  of  office. 

6.  We  are  opposed  to  further  grants  of  public  lands  to  corporations  and 
Land  Grants      monopolies,  and  demand  that  the  national  domain  be  set  apart 

etc.  for  free  homes  for  the  people. 

7.  The  annual  revenue,  after  paying   current    expenditures,  pensions,  and 

the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  should  furnisha  moderate  bal- 
RIndu"tryind  ance  for  the  reduction  of  tne  principal,  and  the  revenue,  except 

so  much  as  may  be  derived  from  a  tax  upon  tobacco  and  Honors, 
be  raised  by  duties  upon  importations,  the  duties  of  which  should  be  so 
adjusted  as  to  aid  in  securing  remunerative  wages  for  labor,  and  promote 
the  industries,  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

8.  We  hold  in  undying  honor  the  soldiers  and  sailors  whose  valor  saved  the 

Union.  Their  pensions  are  a  sacred  debt  of  the  nation  ;  and 
^e  w^ows  an<^  orphans  of  those  who  died  for  their  country 
are  entitled  to  the  care  of  a  generous  and  grateful  people.  We 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  85 

favor  such  additional  legislation  as  will  extend  the  bounty  of  the  Government 
to  all  our  soldiers  and  sailors  who  were  honorably  discharged,  and  who  in 
the  line  of  duty  became  disabled,  without  regard  to  the  length  of  service 
or  the  cause  of  such  discharge. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and  other  European  powers,  concerning 
allegiance — "Once   a    subject,   always  a   subject," — having  at 

Naturalized     last,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Republican  party,   been  aban- 

Citizens.  doned,  and  the  American  idea  of  the  individual's  right  to  trans 
fer  allegiance  having  been  accepted  by  European  nations,  it  is  the  duty  of 
our  Government  to  guard  with  jealous  care  the  rights  of  adopted  citizens  against 
the  assumption  of  unauthorized  claims  of  their  former  Governments  ;  and 
we  urge  continual  careful  protection  and  encouragement,  of  voluntary  im 
migration. 
Franking  io.  The  franking  privilege  ought  to  be  abolished  and  the  way 

Abuse.  prepared  for  a  speedy  reduction  of  the  rates  of  postage. 

11.  Among  the  questions  which  press  for  attention,  is  that  which  concerns 
Capital  and       the  relations  of  capital  and  labor  ;  and   the   Republican  party 

Labor.  recognize  the  duty  of  so  shaping  legislation  as  to  secure  full 

protection  and  the  amplest  field  for  capital ;  and  for  labor,  the  creator  of  cap 
ital,  the  largest  opportunities,  and  a  just  share  of  mutual  profits  of  these  two 
great  servants  of  civilization. 

12.  We  hold  that  Congress  and  the  President  have  only  fulfilled  an  imper- 
The  Southern    ^ve  ^uty  m  their  measures  for  the  suppression  of  violent  and 

Policy.  treasonable  organizations  in  certain  lately  rebellious  regions, 

and  for  the  protection  of  the  ballot-box,  and  therefore  they  are  entitled  to  the 
thanks  of  the  nation. 

13.  We  denounce  repudiation  of  the  public  debt,  in  any  form  or  disguise, 

as  a  national  crime.     We  witness  with  pride  the  reduction  of 
the  principal  of  the  debt  and  the  rates  of  interest  upon  the  bal 
ance  ;  and  confidently  expect  that   our  excellent   national  currency  will  be 
perfected  by  a  speedy  resumption  of  specie  payment. 

14.  The  Republican  party  is  mindful  of  its  obligations  to  the  loyal  women 
Advancement     of  America  for  their  noble  devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

of  Woman.  Their  admission  to  /wider  fields  of  usefulness  is  viewed  with 
satisfaction,  and  the  honest  demands  of  any  class  of  citizens  should  be  treated 
with  respectful  consideration. 

15.  We  heartily  approve  the  action  of  Congress  in  extending  amnesty  to 
Amn    t  those  lately  in  rebellion»  an(i  rejoice  in  the  growth  of  peace 

and  fraternal  feeling  throughout  the  land. 

1 6.  The  Republican  party  propose  to  respect  the  rights  reserved  by  the 
Personal  Lib-    People  to  themselves  as  carefully  as  the  powers  delegated  by 

e«y.  them  to  the  State  and  to  the  Federal  Government.      It  disap 

proves  of  the  resort  to  unconstitutional  laws,  for  the  purpose  of  removing  evils, 
by  interference  with  rights  not  surrendered  by  the  people  to  either  the  State 
or  National  Government. 


86  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

17.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government  to  adopt  such  measures  as 

may  best  tend  to  encourage  and  restore  American  commerce 
Commerce.  . 

and  shipbuilding. 

1 8.  We  believe  that  the  modest  patriotism,  the  earnest  purpose,  the  sound 
Pre  ident  judgment,  the  practical  wisdom,  the  incorruptible  integrity,  and 

Grant.  the  illustrious  services  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant   have   commended 

him  to  the  heart  of  the   American  people ;   and  with  him  at   our   head  \ve 
start  to-day  upon  a  new  march  of  victory. 

This  platform  constitutes  a  very  complete,  though 
terse  and  compact  presentation  of  all  issues  likely 
to  aYise  during  the  campaign,  and  on  which  the 
position  of  the  party  required  to  be  defined.  It 
even  goes  beyond  that,  and  takes  ground  on  sev 
eral  new  questions  of  which  "  great "  political  par 
ties  have  usually  fought  shy — as  for  instance,  the 
woman  question,  the  labor  question  and  the  ques 
tion  of  personal  rights.  On  the  last  named  of  these, 
many  of  our  German  fellow  citizens  are  decidedly 
sensitive,  and  the  enunciation  of  principle  contained 
in  the  sixteenth  paragraph  was  accepted  by  Her 
mann  Raster,  of  the  Chicago  Staats  Zeitung,  as 
satisfactory  to  the  American  citizens  of  German 
birth,  for  whom  he  was  well  qualified  to  speak.  It 
is  to  be  understood,  of  course,  that  the  "  rights  not 
surrendered  by  the  people  to  either  the  State  or 
National  Government  "  mean  more  particularly  the 
rights  of  conscience,  as  to  religion,  personal  regimen, 
etc.,  which  some  people  would  have  the  laws  to 
interfere  with. 

Concerning  this  series  of  declarations  a  con 
temporary  writer  remarked  in  a  letter  from  Phila 
delphia,  "The  platform,  as  a  whole,  gives  great 
satisfaction,  no  less  for  its  felicity  of  expression  than 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  87 

for  its  boldness  and  loyalty  of  tone  with  regard  to 
reconstructing  the  South,  protecting  the  persecuted, 
paying  off  the  debt,  keeping  up  the  national  credit, 
etc.,  and  its  progressiveness  in  favoring  amnesty  to 
Southern  political  offenders,  and  in  demanding  the 
reform  of  the  civil  service,  the  abolition  of  the 
franking  privilege,  land-grants,  etc.  It  leaves  the 
Cincinnati  crowd  nothing  to  fight  for — nothing  but 
Greeley  and  Gratz.  But  they  might  have  known 
as  much  before.  They  might  have  known,  when 
they  undertook  to  steal  our  best  and  newest  planks 
for  their  raft  of  distress,  that  the  property  would  be 
claimed  by  its  rightful  owners  as  soon  as  the  proper 
time  should  come." 

RE-NOMINATION    OF    GRANT. 

In  following  the  Platform  through  from  its  in 
ception  in  the  committee  room  to  its  adoption  by 
the  Convention,  we  have  shot  past  the  great  event 
of  the  day — the  renomination  of  General  Ulysses 
S.  Grant  for  President.  This  was  accomplished  by 
the  usual  routine,  though  the  moment  was  so 
crowded  with  consequence  as  to  lend  a  factitious 
interest  and  excitement  to  even  the  driest  detail  of 
the  transaction.  It  was  about  one  o'clock  on 
Thursday  afternoon,  when,  the  Platform  Committee 
being  still  dilatory  with  their  report,  the  convention 
resolved  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  nomination  of  a 
candidate  for  President.  To  Illinois,  as  the  home 
of  Grant,  and  to  the  Hon.  Shelby  M.  Cullum,  ex- 
member  of  Congress,  as  chairman  of  the  delegation, 


88  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

was  accorded  the  honor  of  making  the  formal  pre 
sentation  of  General  Grant's  name.  This  was  done 
in  a  speech  which,  for  terseness  and  force,  was 
worthy  of  the  nominee  himself.  Mr.  Cullum  said  : 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  :  On  behalf  of  the  great  Republican  party 
of  Illinois,  and  that  of  the  Union,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  of  loyalty,  of  jus 
tice  and  of  law  ;  in  the  name  of  economy,  of  good  government,  of  peac»  and 
all  of  the  equal  rights  of  all ;  remembering,  with  profound  gratitude,  his 
glorious  achievements  on  the  field  and  his  noble  statesmanship  as  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  great  nation,  I  nominate  as  President  of  the  United  States,  for  a 
second  term,  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT." 

A    THRILLING    SCENE. 

The  vast  assemblage  could  hardly  wait  for  the 
few  timely  words  which  the  speaker  had  to  utter 
before  its  enthusiasm  found  vent  in  such  an  ex 
plosion  of  spontaneous  applause  as  never  was  heard 
before  in  any  deliberative  body.  The  whole  audience 
rose  and  waved  hats,  handkerchiefs,  etc.,  and  shouted 
promiscuously. 

Then  there  was  sufficient  lull  for  somebody  to 
start  "  Cheers  for  Grant  and  victory,"  and  the  cheers 
rang  out  with  deafening  volume  from  broad  parquet, 
and  from  the  four  vast  semi-circles  of  thrilled  hu 
manity,  until  the  festoons  of  laurel,  that  stretched 
away  to  the  lofty  dome,  shook  and  quivered  with  the 
sound. 

The  musicians  caught  the  infection,  and  waved 
their  brass  horns  and  laced  caps.  There  was  not  a 
square  inch  of  space  in  the  room  but  seemed  to 
quiver  with  excitement  and  motion. 

Finally  from  out  the  swelling  volume  of  sound 
rose  the  concerted  strains  of  music.  "  Hail  to  the 
Chief"  was  the  salute  of  the  band,  as  a  colossal 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  89 

equestrian  portrait  of  General  Grant  was  lowered 
from  the  clouds  of  the  scene  set  at  the  back  of  the 
stage.  The  picture  was  well  executed  and  life-like, 
the  main  portion  being  bordered  with  medallions  of 
Lincoln  and  Stanton,and  full-length  representations 
of  Peace  and  Plenty. 

Then  the  cheers  arose  again,  and  all  was  spon 
taneous  and  informal  until  the  form  of  General 
Stewart  L.  Woodford,  of  New  York,  was  seen  upon 
the  stage,  where  he  appeared  for  the  purpose  of 
seconding  the  nomination  of  President  Grant  for 
re-election.  General  Woodford  seemed  inspired  for 
the  occasion.  His  words  were  laden  with  feeling, 
and  at  the  same  time  not  mere  gush.  They  were 
logical  and  practical,  and,  coming  from  an  influential 
and  much  honored  citizen  of  the  State  where  Hor 
ace  Greeley  betrayed  his  party,  and  where  the  fac 
tion  to  which  he  has  committed  himself  was  chiefly 
nourished,  they  were  doubly  welcome  to  the  as 
sembly. 

One  more  speech  in  this  behalf  was  made,  and 
then  the  applause  broke  out  again. 

The  roll  of  States  were  called  and  every  vote  of 
the  whole  752  was  solemnly  recorded  for  U.  S. 
Grant,  the  chairman  of  the  several  delegations  vie- 
ing  with  each  other  in  the  nice  bits  of  epigramatic 
eloquence,  in  which  they  laid  their  laurel  tributes  at 
the  feet  of  the  conqueror  of  the  rebellion. 

The  result  was  announced,  after  which  another 
surfeit  of  applause,  out  of  which  again  rose  strains 
of  music  from  the  band,  the  prelude  to  a  stirring 

6 


90  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

new  campaign  song,  which  some  local  genius  here 
sprung  upon  the  convention.  It  was  good,  and  re 
minded  certain  demonstrative  ones  among  the  dele 
gates  of  other  songs,  chiefly  patriotic — melodies 
associated  with  the  late  war  which  they  desired  to 
have  played  and  sung.  "  Red,  White  and  Blue," 
''John  Brown's  Body,""  Marching  through  Georgia," 
and  other  patriotic  songs  were  sung  and  joined  in 
with  immense  force  by  the  audience — still  standing. 

THE    VICE    PRESIDENT    QUESTION. 

It  was  not  until  after  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
of  this  kind  of  proceedings  that  the  Convention 
could  bring  itself  down  to  routine  business.  When 
it  did  so,  the  work  of  nominating  a  Vice  President 
was  in  hand.  The  chief  contest  for  this  office  was 
between  Schuyler  Colfax,  the  incumbent,  and 
Henry  Wilson,  long  Senator  from  Massachusetts. 
All  other  candidates  were  merely  local  in  their 
strength,  and  scarcely  any  other  were  voted  for  ex 
cept  as  a  passing  compliment  from  the  party  in  their 
own  States. 

There  was  nothing  of  a  serious  nature  alleged 
against  Mn  Colfax  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not 
be  renominated.  Indeed,  the  feeling  of  a  majority 
of  the  delegates,  on  assembling,  was  in  his  favor, 
and  showed  him  to  be  still  a  very  popular  man. 
There  was  active  effort  made  in  every  delegation, 
however,  by  the  friends  of  "the  Natick  cobbler," 
who  made  use  of  the  following  arguments  : 

i.  That,  on  general  principles,  a  change  in  the 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  91 

nomination  for  Vice-President  was  desirable,  when 
the  same  candidate  for  President  was  presented. 

2.  That  considerations  of  locality  demanded  the 
nomination   of  an   Eastern   man,  after  two   terms 
with  neither  a  President  nor   Vice-President  from 
the  East. 

3.  That  Mr.  Wilson    possessed  special  elements 
of   strength  with  the  working  men   and  with  the 
negroes,  which  Mr.  Colfax  had  not. 

4.  That  Mr.  Colfax  had,  in  a  letter  published  in 
the  New  York  Independent,  a  year  and  a  half  ago, 
withdrawn  from  the  field,  and  alleged  reasons  which 
would  be  used  against  him  in  the  campaign. 

5.  That,  at  the  same  time  and  since,  Mr.  Colfax 
had  encouraged  Mr.  Wilson  to  come  out  as  a  can 
didate,  which  he  would  not  otherwise  have  done. 

These  considerations,  especially  the  last  two, 
which  were  vigorously  advertised  by  an  organized 
body  of  newspaper  reporters  from  Washington, 
proved  sufficient  to  defeat  Mr.  Colfax  and  secure 
the  nomination  of  his  principal  rival.  This  was 
done  on  the  first  ballot,  which,  at  the  completion 
of  the  roll-call,  stood  thus : 

WILSON.      COLFAX.      MAYNARD.       SCATTERING. 

Alabama -"  7               * 

Arkansas - I2 

California.. 12 

Connecticut.. 6  6 

Delaware -   --  6 

Florida. -   5  3 

Georgia. 16  6 

Illinois. --25  17 

Indiana. 3° 

Iowa..                                    19  3 


Q2  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

WILSON.      COLFAX.      MAYNARD.      SCATTERING. 

Kansas  _____  .......  _  ...............  .10 

Kentucky..  ......  ___  .....  -----------  4  20 

Louisiana  ........  ;  ___  ......  ----------   5  n 

Maine  ............  .  .......  _________  4  10 

Maryland.  ...........  ________  ......  .16 

Massachusetts  _______________________  26 

Michigan  ________  ............  _______  22 

Minnesota  ________   ................  10 

Mississippi  _____  .....................  n  4  I 

Missouri.  ...........................  27  2  I 

Nebraska  ..........................  _  2  4 

Nevada  ...................  .....  _____  6 

New  Hampshire.  ..........   ........  .10 

New  Jersey  ____  ...........  .  ________   ._  18 

New  York  ___  ..................  ______  16  53  _.  I 

North  Carolina  .....................  20 

Ohio  ...............................  30  14 

Oregon  ____  ...................  .  .....  _  6 

Pennsylvania  ........................  58 

Rhode    Island  ...................  ...   ..  8 

South  Carolina  ......................   95.. 

Tennessee..  .........    ................  _.  24 

*Texas  .............................  ..  ..  _.  16 

Vermont  .............................  10 

•J-  Virginia  ___  ______  ___________  -------   --  --  --  22 

West  Virginia  .....................  -   --  10 

Wisconsin  ..........................  15  5 

Arizona  ________  ____________________   --  2 

Colorado  ..........  -  ................    I  I  .. 

Dakotah....  ............  -  ...........     Vz  *1A 

District  of  Columbia  .................  --  2 

Idaho  .......  2 

Montana  ..........................  - 

New  Mexico  ........................   2 

Utah..  ....................  ........ 

Washington  _  .........  -  ............ 

Wyoming  ......................  -----   I 


Total....  ......  ..  .......  -3t>4l/2         32i>^  26  40 

*  For  E.  J.  Davis,     f  For  John  F.  Lewis. 

It  was  found,  on   footing  this  up,  that  the  excel 
lent  incumbent  of  the  Vice-Presidential  chair  was 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  93 

overtopped  by  his  principal  opponent  by  some 
forty-three  votes.  It  was  immediately  apparent  to 
the  Colfax  men  that  this  disadvantage  could  not  be 
overcome.  But  they  had  no  time  for  effort  in  this 
direction,  if  they  had  been  ever  so  much  disposed 
for  it ;  for  before  the  result  was  announced,  Virginia 
had  risen  and  transferred  her  vote  from  her  own 
local  favorite  to  Henry  Wilson,  giving  him  384^ 
votes  in  all,  or  seven  more  than  were  necessary  to 
a  choice.  The  result  was  sudden,  but  it  did  not 
demoralize  or  disaffect  anybody.  The  Indiana  del 
egation,  who  had  worked  incessantly  night  and  day 
for  their  beloved  statesman,  Colfax,  should  have 
been  demoralized  and  disaffected,  if  any  were  so ; 
and  they  were  heard,  as  soon  as  the  lusty  applause 
of  the  throng  could  be  penetrated  by  any  intelli 
gible  sound,  recording  their  unanimous  vote  for 
their  candidate's  chief  rival !  This  did  not  look  like 
disaffection.  In  fact,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  heroic 
determination  to  whip  the  enemy  had  overcome 
every  other  consideration  at  this  convention,  and 
that  some  hand  higher  than  any  that  is  human  had 
overruled  all  turbulent  passions,  and  envies,  and 
bickerings,  in  order  to  facilitate  this  greatly  desir 
able  end. 

COLFAX    MAGNANIMOUS. 

Before  the  Convention  adjourned,  (which  oc 
curred  a  very  short  time  after  the  result  of  the  bal 
loting  was  declared),  the  chairman  of  the  Indiana 
delegation,  had  received  the  following  telegraphic 
dispatch  from.  Mr  Colfax : 


94  THE  STRUGGLE  OF    72. 

WASHINGTON,  June  6.—  John  W.  Foster,  Indiana. — Accept  for  yourself 
and  delegation  my  sincere  gratitude  for  your  gallant  contest.  I  support  your 
ticket  cheerfully.  Men  are  nothing — principles  everything.  Nothing  must 
arrest  Republican  triumph  until  equality  under  the  law,  like  the  liberty  from 
which  it  springs,  is  universally  acknowledged,  and  the  citizenship  of  the 
humblest  becomes  a  sure  protection  against  outrage  and  wrong,  as  was  Ro 
man  citizenship  of  old.  SCHUYLER  COLFAX. 

NATIONAL    COMMITTEE. 

Before  the  adjournment,  which  occurred  at  ten 
minutes  past  4,  the  chair  announced  the  following 
gentlemen  as  composing  the  National  Committee 
for  the  ensuing  five  years : 

Alabama George  D.  Spencer, 

Arkansas -- Edwell  Clayton. 

California George  C.  Gorham. 

Connecticut Marshall  Jewell. 

Delaware James  Riddle. 

Florida William  H.  Gleason. 

Georgia Isaac  S.  Fannin. 

Illinois - ..y.  Y.  Scammon. 

Indiana 0.  P.  Morton. 

Iowa Grenville  M.  Dodge. 

Kansas. -  -  - John  A.  Martin. 

Kentucky William  C.  Goodloe, 

Louisiana G.  Cassinave. 

Maine William  G.  Fry. 

Maryland ---- C.  C.  Fulton. 

Massachusetts - -  -  William  Claflin. 

Michigan William  A.  Howard. 

Minnesota -  -  John  T.  A-verill. 

Mississippi  _ O.  C.  French. 

Missouri  _. __.R.  T.  Vanhorn. 

Nebraska --E.  T.  Cunningham. 

Nevada -- James  W.  Nye. 

New  Hampshire .William  E.  Chandler. 

New  Jersey Alexander  G.  CattelL 

New  York Edwin  D.  Morgan. 

North  Carolina -  Joseph  C.  Abbott. 

Ohio - B.  R.  Cowen. 

Oregon _ Joseph  G.  Wilson. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  95 

Pennsylvania _ William  H,  Kemble. 

Rhode    Island ._ _ William  D.  Brayton. 

South  Carolina Franklin  J.  Moses,  Jr. 

Tennessee - Horace  Maynard. 

Texas 

Vermont - - George  Nichols. 

Virginia - W.  H.  Wells,  Jr. 

West  Virginia - Anson  Criswell. 

Wisconsin - David  Atwood. 

Arizona  _  _ John  Titus. 

Colorado  _  _ Edward  M.  McCook. 

Dakotah William  H.  H.  Beadle. 

District  of  Columbia -  Henry  D.  Cooke. 

Idaho John  R.  McBride. 

Montana Lucius  B.  Church. 

New  Mexico Joseph  G.  Palen. 

Utah.. Alfred  S.  Gould. 

Washington L.  B.  Andrews, 

Wyoming William  T.  Jones. 

Of  the  committee,  those  whose  names  are  printed 
in  italics  belong  to  a  sub-committee  of  fifteen, 
called  an  Executive  Campaign  Committee.  The 
chairman  of  all  is  Ex-Governor  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  of 
New  York ;  the  Secretary,  William  E.  Chandler,  of 
New  Hampshire.  The  committee  is  one  of  unpre 
cedented  ability  and  financial  strength,  and  the 
organization  for  the  campaign  is  already  very  com 
plete — so  much  so  that  the  Republican  party  pos 
sesses  great  advantages  in  this  respect  over  any  of 
its  rivals  in  its  facility  for  working  its  field  of  labor. 


THE    CANDIDATES    NOTIFIED. 

On  the  loth  of  June,  the  President  and  several 
of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Philadelphia  Conven 
tion,  waited  upon  President  Grant  and  Senator 
Wilson,  to  inform  them  officially  of  their  nomina- 


96  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

tion.  They  found  the  President  at  the  White 
House,  whither,  at  half-past  one,  he  resorted  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  their  visit,  the  day  being 
the  final  one  of  the  session  of  Congress,  and  the 
President  having  been  on  duty  at  the  Capitol  since 
early  in  the  morning.  Judge  Settle  said  laconic 
ally,  emulating  his  illustrious  interlocutor : 

"MR.  PRESIDENT. — We  are  before  you  to  perform 
a  very  agreeable  duty.  We  are  here  to  officially 
inform  you  of  your  unanimous  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  by  the  National  Republican  Conven 
tion  assembled  at  Philadelphia  on  the  6th  inst. 
Beyond  this,  I  do  not  know  that  we  have  anything 
to  say." 

Here  Judge  Settle  handed  the  President  the  fol 
lowing  letter,  formally  notifying  him  of  his  nomi 
nation  : 

WASHINGTON,  June  10. 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT — SIR  :  In  pursuance  of  our  instructions,  we,  the  under 
signed,  President  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  National  Republican  Conven 
tion,  held  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  5th  and  6th  insts.,  have  the  honor  to  inform 
you  of  your  nomination  for  re-election  to  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States.  As  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  enthusi 
asm  which  prevailed,  or  the  unanimity  which  hailed  you  as  the  choice  of  the 
.people,  we  can  only  add  that  you  received  the  entire  vote  of  every  State  and 
Territory.  Regarding  your  re-election  as  necessary  to  the  peace  and  contin 
ued  prosperity  of  the  country,  we  ask  your  acceptance  of  the  nomination. 
[Signed]  THOMAS  SETTLE,  President. 

PAUL  STROBACH  and  forty-one  others,  Vice-Presidents. 

The  President  said  : 

"GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  not  now  ready  to  respond 
to  your  letter,  but  will  take  an  early  opportunity 
to  do  so  in  writing.  It  is  certainly  gratifying  for 
me  to  learn  that,  after  holding  office  for  three  years, 


Member  of  *s 


—  ~  ":=* 

-  CH  AS.  F  A  p^ 

»va  Conference  fro™  fi . 


:ilted  States. 


ov 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  99 

never  having  before  held  political  office,  never  hav 
ing  been  a  candidate  for  nomination,  I  have  been 
endorsed  by  my  former  supporters.  This  is  some 
thing  I  cannot  forget.  I  am,  of  course,  very 
grateful." 

The  several  Vice-Presidents  addressed  General 
Grant  briefly,  each  pledging  him  the  hearty  and 
energetic  support  of  the  Republicans  of  his  State, 
and  after  some  pleasant  conversational  sallies  all 
around,  the  deputation  retired.  The  President 
took  his  lunch  and  returned  to  duty  at  the  Capitol, 
where,  in  the  Executive  room,  surrounded  by  cabi 
net  officers,  by  clerks,  by  Senators,  importuning 
him  anxiously  about  the  vital  question  of  an  extra 
session,  which  the  filibustering  of  the  Democrats 
threatened  to  necessitate,  he  wrote  out  in  pencil 
this  formal  letter  of  acceptance — a  letter  of  which 
it  has  been  said,  "  Every  sentence  is  a  platform  ": 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  June  10. 
Hon.  Thos.  Settle,  President  National   Republican  Convention  ;  Paul  Stro- 

bace,  Elisha  Baxter,  and  others,  Vice-Presidents : 

GENTLEMEN  :  Your  letter  of  this  date,  advising  me  of  the  action  of  the 
convention  held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  this  month,  and  of  my 
unanimous  nomination  for  the  Presidency  by  it,  is  received. 

I  accept  the  nomination,  and  through  you  return  my  heartfelt  thanks  to 
your  constituents  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  and  support.  If  elected 
in  November,  and  protected  by  a  kind  Providence  in  health  and  strength  to 
perform  the  duties  of  the  high  trust  conferred,  I  promise  the  same  zeal  and 
devotion  to  the  good  of  the  whole  people  for  the  future  of  my  official  life  as 
shown  in  the  past.  Experience  may  guide  me  in  avoiding  mistakes  inevi 
table  with  novices  in  all  professions  and  in  all  occupations.  When  relieved 
from  the  responsibilities  of  my  present  trust  by  the  election  of  a  successor, 
whether  it  be  at  the  end  of  this  term  or  next,  I  hope  to  leave  to  him,  as  Ex 
ecutive,  a  country  at  peace  within  its  own  border ;  at  peace  with  outside 
nations  ;  with  a  firm  credit  at  home  and  abroad  ;  without  embarrasing  ques 
tions  to  threaten  its  future  prosperity. 


IOO  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

With  the  expression  of  my  desire  to  see  the  speedy  healing  of  all  bitter 
ness  of  feeling   between  sections,  parties,  or  races  of  citizens,  and   the  time 
when  the  title  of  citizen  carries  with  it  all  the  protection   and  privileges  to 
the  humblest  that  it  does  to  the  most  exalted,  I  subscribe  myself, 
Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

After  the  interview  with  Grant,  the  committee 
waited  upon  Wilson,  whom  they  found  in  the  room 
of  the  Senate  Military  Committee,  of  which  he  is 
Chairman.  Him  Judge  Settle  addressed  in  much 
the  same  manner  as  he  had  addressed  the  Presi 
dent  ;  and  Senator  Wilson  made  the  following 
reply,  quite  impromptu : 

"GENTLEMEN  :  I  will  in  a  day  or  two  give  you  an  answer  in  writing  to  this 
communication.  I  take  this  occasion,  however,  to  thank  you  and  the  mem 
bers  of  the  convention  you  represent  for  this  manifestation  of  confidence,  as 
I  neither  asked  for  or  wrote  to  any  member  of  the  convention  to  give  me  a 
vote.  I  am  all  the  more  grateful  for  their  generous  support.  I  am  gratified 
too,  for  the  friendly  tone  of  the  Republican  press  of  the  country.  For  thir 
ty-six  years,  in  public  life  and  in  private  life,  I  have  striven  to  maintain  the 
distinguishing  idea  of  the  Republican  party — freedom  and  equality  of  all 
men.  I  have  striven  ever  to  be  true  to  my  country,  and  to  the  rights  of  our 
common  humanity  ;  to  know  no  sectional  interest,  nor  race,  nor  color.  In  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  I  shall  unfalteringly  adhere  to  these  principles,  which 
are  convictions  of  my  judgment,  heart,  and  conscience.  I  am  clearly  of 
opinion  that  the  great  soldier,  who  rendered  such  illustrious  service  to  his 
country  in  a  great  civil  war,  will  be  re-elected  President  of  the  United  States. 
His  humanity  to  the  vanquished,  his  firmness  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the 
humble  and  defenceless,  his  devotion  to  the  leading  ideas  of  the  Republican 
party,  cannot  be  questioned.  I  esteem  it  high  honor  to  be  associated  with 
him  in  the  coming  contest.  While  I  am  grateful  to  my  friends  who  gave  me 
such  generons  support,  I  honor  those  who  adhered  with  such  devotion  to  Mr. 
Colfax.  We  have  been  personal  and  political  friends  for  nearly  twenty  years, 
and  it  is  a  source  of  profound  satisfaction  to  me  that  our  personal  relations 
have  not  been  disturbed  by  the  recent  contest.  While  I  shall  never  cease  to 
feel  grateful  to  the  friends  who  honored  me  by  their  support,  I  shall  ever 
entertain  sincere  respect  for  those  who  deemed  it  to  be  their  duty  to  give 
their  support  to  others.  I  hope  we  shall  all  strive  to  win  to  our  support  every 
honest  and  patriotic  man  in  the  country — every  man  true  to  the  rights  of 


THE    REPUBLICAN     PARTY.  IOI 

humanity — every  man  who  would  elevate  the  condition  of  the  toiling  mil 
lions,  and  have  our  republic  become  a  great  Christian  nation,  an  example  to 
the  world.  Let  it  be  understood  that  our  ranks  are  wide  open  to  receive  all 
devoted  to  the  country,  and  who  would  advance  its  happiness  and  the  general 
well-being  of  all  sections  of  the  land  and  all  conditions  of  the  people.  We, 
Republicans  should  offer  the  hand  of  reconciliation  to  all  fair-minded  and 
honorable  men,  and  use  all  legitimate  means  to  achieve  success  for  the  honor 
and  salvation  of  the  country,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  party  which  saved  the 
Union  and  established  freedom  in  every  part  of  the  land." 

Mr.  Wilson  afterwards  sent  the  deputation  a  very 
able  letter  of  acceptance,  which  is  printed  in  an 
appendix  near  the  close  of  this  volume. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

(CONTINUED.) 

The  Legislation  of  the  Republican  Party,  State  and  National — Sketch  of 
Some  of  the  More  Prominent  Acts  of  Congress — The  Constitutional 
Amendments — A  Brief  Resume  of  All. 

Within  a  short  time  after  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  it  obtained  political  control  of 
every  free  State,  except  Indiana.  Illinois,  which 
cast  its  electoral  vote  for  Mr.  Buchanan  in  1856, 
nevertheless  elected  at  the  same  time  a  Republican 
Governor,  the  lamented  Bissell ;  and  in  1860,  Indi 
ana  passed  into  Republican  Government  by  con 
siderable  majorities. 

It  is  not  within  the  design  of  this  work  to  relate 
the  achievements  of  the  Republican  party  in  the 
several  states,  wherein  it  gained  supremacy.  It 
may  be  well  to  remark,  generally,  however,  that  it 
is  historically  true  that  with  the  beginning  of  Re 
publican  ascendancy  in  those  states  there  was  also 
a  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  progress  ;  a  more  rapid 
development  of  those  material  interests  by  which 
national  wealth  is  increased,  the  public  good  foster 
ed,  and  the  general  happiness  augmented  ;  a  more 
liberal  policy  inaugurated  in  respect  to  those  public 
institutions  whereby  crime  is  repressed,  suffering 
alleviated,  and  civilization  advanced.  All  such  in- 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  IO3 

ternal  improvements — railways,  canals,  etc. — as  are 
of  benefit  to  the  people  at  large,  have  been  liberally 
sustained.  Generous  appropriations  have  been  made 
in  behalf  of  institutions  for  the  care  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  the  blind,  and  the  insane.  Many  of  these 
beneficent  institutions,  in  fact,  which  so  much  honor 
our  country,  are  due  to  Republican  policy,  against 
the  protest  of  Democratic  opposition.  In  all  these 
Republican  states,  too,  honesty  and  economy  have 
been  the  rule  of  administration.  Peculations  and 
frauds  have  unquestionably  occurred,  but  they  have 
ever  been  promptly  exposed  and  punished.  The 
system  of  public  schools  has  been  extended  and  im 
proved.  In  a  word,  every  state  which  has  been  Re 
publican  has  had  its  laws  more  or  less  reformed  for 
the  better ;  its  material  interest  developed ;  its 
wealth  increased  ;  its  political  morality  elevated  ;  its 
substantial  progress  constantly  assured.  The  legis 
lation  and  administration  of  affairs  in  every  Repub 
lican  state  demonstrate  that  the  Republican  party 
has  everywhere  been  a  benefactor  to  the  body 
politic. 

NATIONAL  LEGISLATION. 

Since  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  the  Republican 
party  has  been  responsible  for  all  federal  legislation 
and  administration.  We  have  already  seen,  by 
general  view,  how  much  it  has  accomplished  ;  that 
its  history  has  been  in  truth  the  history  of  the  Re 
public.  But  it  will  not  be  thought  out  of  place,  or, 
it  is  hoped,  tedious,  here  to  recur  to  some  of  the 


IO4  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

more  important  matters  of  legislation  which  may  be 
regarded  as  specially  due  to  Republican  policy. 

Congress  met  in  extra  session  at  Washington,  in 
accordance  with  a  proclamation  from  President  Lin 
coln,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861.  A  short  time  after 
wards  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  occurred,  whereby 
the  Union  General  McDowell,  who  had,  in  obedi 
ence  to  the  clamor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  moved 
"  on  to  Richmond  "  before  he  was  ready  for  such  an 
expedition,  suffered  an  ignominous  defeat. 

Congress  at  once  perceived  that  we  were  in  a  state 
of  civil  war,  and  proceeded  to  declare  and  legislate 
accordingly.  On  the  2Qth  of  July  an  act  was  passed 
which  provided  for  men  and  means  wherewithal  to 
suppress  the  rebellion.  This  act  gave  the  President 
ample  power  to  call  forth  volunteers  and  to  carry 
on  the  war  with  vigor.  A  week  afterwards  an  act 
was  passed  confiscating  property  and  setting  free 
all  slaves  used  in  aid  of  the  rebellion.  Other  acts 
of  a  practical  nature  were  passed,  so  that  when  the 
campaigns  of  1872  began,  Edwin  M.  Stanton  being 
now  Secretary  of  War,  and  Grant  in  command  in  the 
West,  results  of  the  most  gratifying  nature  were 
brought  about. 

In  this  rapid  sketch  of  national  legislation  it 
would  be  well  to  place  first  an  account  of  the  amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution.  These  embody  the 
great  political  and  civil  triumphs  of  the  war.  They 
will  be  found  at  length  in  the  appendix  to  this 
work.  Let  it  suffice  here  to  state  that  the  Thir 
teenth  amendment  (abolishing  slavery)  was  passed 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  1 05 

by  Congress  January  27th,  1865  ;  the  Fourteenth 
(securing  civil  rights,  repudiating  the  rebel  debt, 
and  guaranteeing  the  national  debt),  June  i6th, 
1866;  the  Fifteenth  (establishing  manhood  suf 
frage),  February  27th,  1869.  Meantime,  Congress 
had  passed  many  other  acts  calculated  to  be  of  serv 
ice  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  progress.  Not  to 
mention  all  these,  reference  may  be  made  to  an  act 
which  abolished  the  Coolie  trade  by  American  cit 
izens  in  American  vessels,  February  19,  1862  ;  an 
act  forbidding  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves  by  the 
army  or  navy,  March  13,  1862;  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  April  16,  1862  ; 
an  act  authorizing  the  President  to  send  diplomatic 
representatives  of  the  United  States  to  the  negro 
republics  of  Hayti  and  Liberia ;  an  act  forever 
prohibiting  slavery  in  any  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States,  June  19,  1862  ;  an  act  to  carry  into 
practical  effect  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  the 
suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade,  July  1 1, 1862  ; 
an  act  incorporating  a  national  university  (Howard) 
at  Washington  city  for  the  education  of  colored 
youth,  March  3,  1863;  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  of  1850,  January  28,  1864;  the  act  estab 
lishing  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  March  3,  1865;  the 
civil  rights  bill,  April  9,  1866;  an  act  expressly  pro 
viding  that  there  shall  be  no  denial  of  the  right  of 
franchise  in  any  of  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States  to  any  citizen  on  account  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude ;  an  act  enforcing 
the  Fourteenth  amendment,  and  empowering  the 


IO6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Executive  to  suppress  rebellious  conspiracies  (known 
as  "the  Ku-Klux  law  "),  April  20,  1871  ;  the  act  of 
general  amnesty  passed  by  the  Congress  which  is 
still  (1872)  in  existence,  by  which  measure  of  mag 
nanimity  it  may  be  said  the  last  trace  of  the  rebel 
lion,  so  far  as  legislation  is  concerned,  was  obliter 
ated. 

LEGISLATION    IN    BEHALF    OF    LABOR. 

Reference  ought  also  to  be  made  to  a  few  acts  in 
the  direct  interest  of  labor.  The  first  of  these  in 
importance,  perhaps,  as  also  the  earliest  in  date  of 
enactment,  was  the  Homestead  law,  passed  May 
2Oth,  1862,  by  which  every  actual  settler  was  ena 
bled  to  obtain  160  acres  of  land  free  of  expense. 
The  praise  due  to  the  Republican  party  on  account 
of  the  success  of  this  measure  in  behalf  of  the 
actual  tiller  of  the  soil  is  all  the  greater  because 
President  Buchanan  vetoed  a  bill  of  a  similar  na 
ture  during  the  declining  days  of  Democratic  pow 
er.  A  similar  act  in  behalf  of  labor  was  that  do 
nating  public  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Ter 
ritories,  to  provide  endowments  for  colleges  for  the 
benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  July 
2d,  1862.  The  public  lands  of  the  South,  amount 
ing  to  about  45,000,000  acres,  were  also  reserved 
to  the  laborer  by  an  act  of  Congress.  The  Repub 
lican  party,  also  set  a  national  example  for  the 
eight  hour  law,  by  enacting  that  eight  hours  shall 
constitute  a  day's  work  on  all  the  public  works  of 
the  United  States. 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.  IOJ 

Of  those  acts  of  national  legislation  in  behalf 
of  the  general  interests  of  the  body  politic,  we 
may  mention  the  law  of  May  i5th,  1862,  by  which 
a  Department  of  Agriculture  was  established  ;  the 
Pacific  Railroad  act  of  July  ist,  1862;  the  act  of 
February  25th,  1863,  providing  a  national  currency, 
amply  secured  by  stocks  of  the  United  States.; 
the  act  of  June  I5th,  1866,  whereby  the  commer 
cial,  postal  and  military  communication  between 
the  different  States  has  been  greatly  facilitated;, 
the  act  of  July  27th,  1866,  in  aid  of  a  railroad  from 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  coast ;  the 
act  of  January  2Oth,  1871,  authorizing  the  refund 
ing  of  the  national  debt  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest 
Of  a  similar  nature  may  be  regarded  the  law  of 
March  2d,  1867,  establishing  a  Bureau  of  Educa- 
cation,  and  subsequent  Pacific  Railroad  acts. 

The  acts  and  resolutions  of  Congress  in  behalf 
of  disabled  and  honorably  discharged  soldiers  and 
sailors,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  deceased 
soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Union,  are  very  numer 
ous.  It  is  not  insisted  that  these  laws  are  due  to 
the  Republican  party  entirely ;  but  it  may  be  safely 
claimed  that  because  of  the  supremacy  of  that 
party  in  the  conduct  of  national  affairs,  they  are 
more  liberal  than  they  otherwise  would  be. 

But,  without  further  particularization,  it  is  be 
lieved  that  the  legislation  of  the  Republican  party, 
in  all -those  acts  which  may  be  called  specially  its 
own,  will,  when  thoroughly  examined,  show  as  much 
in  behalf  of  the  good  of  the  whole  people,  and  as 
7 


108  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

little  against  that  good,  as  can  be  justly  claimed  for 
the  legislation  of  any  political  organization  which 
has  had  control  of  public  affairs. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  have  thus  briefly  and  imperfectly  sketched 
the  outlines  of  the  history  of  the  Republican  party. 
We  have  seen  that  it  had  its  origin  in  the  principle 
of  freedom,  its  organization  in  a  practical  agree 
ment  of  men  who  had  previously  belonged  to  the 
various  political  organizations  of  the  country.  We 
have  seen  that,  having  once  suffered  defeat,  it  after 
wards  constantly  received  the  earnest  confidence 
of  the  American  people.  It  had  control  of  the 
government  during  the  most  trying  period  of  our 
institutions ;  during  those  four  years  of  terrible 
war,  throughout  which  freedom  and  the  cause  of 
man  were  placed  in  imminent  jeopardy  of  being 
lost.  Never  was  higher  trust  reposed  in  any  party; 
never  was  high  trust  more  faithfully  fulfilled.  The 
Union  was  saved  through  a  sublime  victory  for  lib 
erty,  and  by  policies  of  practical  statesmanship  in 
finance,  and  the  general  conduct  of  affairs  the  wis 
dom  of  which  must  forever  challenge  the  admira 
tion  of  all  candid  minds.  But  it  has  not  been  a 
party  oi  one  idea.  It  has  not  only  saved  the 
Union,  and  made  the  Constitution  a  chart  of  gen 
uine  freedom,  but  it  has  accomplished  many  other 
things  of  great  good  to  the  country.  It  has  sup 
plied  a  uniform  currency  for  the  business  of  the 
people,  with  a  national  banking  system  confessedly 


THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY. 

the  best  we  have  ever  had,  and  against  which  no 
serious  criticism  is  uttered.  It  fulfilled  its  prom 
ises — what  no  other  party  herein  had  done — by 
building  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  pro 
viding  means  for  building  others,  by  which  the 
whole  continent  may  be  rapidly  developed  and 
made  able  to  control  the  most  wealthy  commerce 
of  the  world.  It  has  extended  the  election  franchise. 
It  has  provided  that  every  citizen  who  wants  may 
have  a  free  homestead  on  the  public  domain.  It 
has  elevated  the  tone  of  political  morality.  It  has 
destroyed  corrupt  political  "rings"  with  merciless 
severity.  Ever  since  the  close  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  it  has  lightened  the  burdens  of  taxation, 
and  yet  is  diminishing  the  public  debt  at  the  rate 
of  one  hundred  millions  annually.  It  has  demon 
strated  beyond  dispute  its  practical  and  valuable 
sympathy  with  the  cause  of  labor,  by  adopting  the 
eight-hour  law  for  public  workmen,  and  by  years 
of  devotion  to  the  idea  of  the  dignity  of  labor. 
There  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  republic  who  is  not 
better  off  because  of  the  existence  and  the  tri 
umphs  of  the  Republican  party.  Indeed,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  but  for  this  party  and  its  tri 
umphs,  there  would  be  no  American  Union  at  all, 
but  a  number  of  discordant,  belligerent  States, 
through  whose  conflicts  civilization  would  needs 
long  meet  with  sad  reverses,  and  despotism  at  last 
gain  most  mournful  victory.  The  campaign  of 
1872  is  to  decide  whether  this  party  of  long- tried 
patriotism,  virtue,  and  great  statesmanship  shall 


HO  THE   STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

give  way  before  a  party,  a  large  majority  of  whose 
supporters  have  been  in  opposition  to  all  the  great 
victories  of  the  past  and  blind  to  the  great  ideas 
ol  the  present. 


.  Gffaqt. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

HIS  MILITARY  CAREER. 

Early  New  England  Ancestry — "  Blood  will  tell" — Birth  of  Ulysses — Boy 
hood — Life  at  West  Point — His  Part  in  the  Mexican  War — A  Brilliant 
Record — Twice  Brevetted  for  Bravery  and  Efficiency  in  Battle — Becomes 
a  Captain  and  A.  Q.  M. — Marries  and  Resigns — An  Uneventful  Inter 
val — The  Long  Roll  Sounds  Again. 

IT  is  not  proposed  in  this  book  to  give  anything 
beyond  a  brief  outline  of  the  personal  history  of 
General  Grant,  since  an  elaborate  work  of  the  sort, 
though,  perhaps,  not  out  of  place  here,  has  been 
rendered  almost  supererogatory  by  the  score  or  more 
of  biographies  of  Grant  which  have  already  been 
issued  from  the  press.  Aiming  at  nothing  more 
than  a  compilation,  but  desiring  to  make  that  com 
pilation  as  just  as  possible,  the  writer  inquired  of 
the  illustrious  subject  of  all  these  memoirs  which 
was  the  most  worthy  of  confidence.  The  President 
replied  that  he  had  examined  but  two  or  three,  and 
that  they  were  by  no  means  trustworthy ;  and  he 

in 


112  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    'j2. 

specified  one — the  most  popular  of  all,  probably — 
as  being  particularly  inaccurate.  In  view  of  this  it 
becomes  especially  desirable  to  obtain  facts  for  the 
following  pages  from  original  sources,  as  far  as  pos 
sible  ;  and  this  has  been  done. 


GRANT'S  ANCESTRY. 


Ulysses  S.  Grant,  the  seventeenth  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  has  at  the  writing 
of  this,  but  lately  completed  his  fiftieth  year,  having 
been  born  on  the  2;th  of  April,  1822.  Perhaps  it 
is  not  necessary  to  say  anything  about  the  family 
of  President  Grant,  as  the  Opposition  press  has 
kept  that  subject  well  before  the  public  since  his 
inauguration.  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  interesting 
to  genealogists,  and  those  who  believe  strongly  in 
hereditary  qualities,  to  learn  that  the  ancestors  of 
the  President  were  sturdy,  plain,  New  England  peo 
ple.  His  father,  Jesse  Root  Grant,  was  born  in 
Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania  ;  but  his  father, 
and  all  his  ancestors  back  to  Samuel,  son  of  Matthew 
Grant,  one  of  the  early  Puritan  emigrants,  were  born 
in  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut.  Matthew  Grant, 
of  the  seventh  generation  from  Ulysses,  came  to 
America  from  Plymouth,  England,  in  the  "  Mary 
and  John,"  in  May,  1630,  and  settled  in  Dorchester, 
Mass.  The  heads  of  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth 
generations  following  Matthew  were  each  named 
Noah  Grant,  and  were  born  in  Windsor  and  Tol- 
land,  Connecticut.  The  second  Noah  Grant  was  a 
famous  captain  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and 


GRANTS    MILITARY    CAREER.  113 

would,  doubtless,  have  appeared  conspicuously 
among  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  had  he  not 
fallen  by  an  Indian's  bullet,  while  out  scouting,  in 
1756.  His  son  Noah  served  through  the  War  for 
Independence,  having  enlisted  at  the  first  call.  Of 
this  Noah,  the  President's  father,  Jesse  Root  Grant, 
is  the  oldest  son.  He  was  born,  as  above  remarked, 
in  Westmoreland  county,  Penn.  (twenty  miles  above 
Pittsburgh,  on  the  Monongahela),  on  the  23d  of 
January,  1794.  The  old  man  is  still  hale  at  78 
years,  and  able  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  post- 
office  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  a  city  of  30,000 
inhabitants,  on  the  Ohio,  opposite  Cincinnati.  Ap 
prenticed  when  sixteen  years  old,  to  an  Ohio  tan 
ner,  whose  trade  he  learned,  Jesse  Grant  took  up 
his  residence,  shortly  after  coming  of  age,  at  Point 
Pleasant,  Clermont  county,  Ohio.  Here,  in  1821, 
he  married  Hannah  Simpson,  a  woman  who  con 
tributed  to  the  conjugal  capital  stock  of  qualities  a 
large  degree  of  piety,  firmness,  and  strength  of 
character  ;  her  husband  contributing  plentiful  vital 
ity,  quickness  of  discernment,  and  that  general 
cleverness  which  takes  a  man  along  well  through 
the  world  and  keeps  him  on  good  terms  with  his 
fellow  men  ;  these,  combined  with  an  unswerving 
integrity  and  independence  of  habits  which  never 
left  him,  no  matter  in  what  emergency. 

THE    BOY    GRANT. 

Of  this  marriage,  contracted  in  June,  1821,  was 
born,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1822,  Ulysses  Grant, 


114  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

whose  name,  reckoning  according  to  the  wideness 
of  its  celebrity,  stands  third  in  the  long  list  of 
statesmen,  generals,  and  philosophers  which  our 
country  is  able  to  boast.  It  is  not  proper  to  at 
tempt  in  this  sketch  a  detailed  account  of  the  boy 
hood  life  of  Grant,  which  has  already  become  famil 
iar  to  millions  of  readers  through  the  efforts  of  his 
many  biographers.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  soon 
developed  several  noticeable  qualities — physical 
courage,  self-possession,  honesty,  and  modesty  ;  one 
particular  talent — that  of  horsemanship,  which  he 
possessed  to  a  remarkable  degree ;  and  one  special 
passion — a  dislike  to  tannery  work.  He  was  not 
lazy,  however,  nor  yet  untractable ;  nor  had  he  any 
vices  which  his  father  ever  discovered.  One  fact 
which  the  old  man  recalls  with  satisfaction,  was  the 
boy's  freedom  from  the  taint  of  profane  or  intem 
perate  language. 

A    CADET    AT    WEST    POINT. 

By  the  time  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
Ulysses  had  acquired  at  the  common  school  of 
Pleasant  Point  the  rudiments  of  a  common  school 
education,  and  had  read  the  Life  of  Washington, 
but  not  many  other  books.  Fortunately  for  the 
American  Union  (as  it  has  turned  out  since,)  Jesse 
Grant  knew  a  member  of  Congress  well  enough  to 
secure  the  appointment  of  his  boy  to  the  West 
Point  Military  Academy — subject,  of  course,  to  the 
prescribed  examination.  It  was  while  passing 
through  the  hands  of  this  Congressman,  and  through 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  1 1 5 

the  forms  incident  to  its  owner's  muster  as  a  cadet, 
that  the  name  of  young  Grant  underwent  that  sin 
gular  change,  from  Hiram  Ulysses,  the  boy's  baptis 
mal  title  to  Ulysses  Simpson.  The  obliging 
Member  was  precisely  like  other  obliging  Members 
in  his  inability  to  remember  the  full  names  of  all 
the  promising  sons  of  his  respectable  constituents. 
He  did  know,  however,  that  the  principal  Christian 
name  of  his  hopeful  young  protege  at  Point  Pleas 
ant  was  ULYSSES;  and  remembering  also  that  the 
surname  of  the  mother  was  SIMPSON,  he  jumped  at 
a  conclusion,  as  many  another  Congressman  has 
done,  and  decided  that  the  full  name  was  ULYSSES 
SIMPSON.  Thus  it  was  written  down  in  the  appli 
cation  ;  thus  it  went  down  on  the  muster  rolls 
and  records  pertaining  to  the  matriculation  of  the 
newly-fledged  cadet ;  and  thus  it  had  to  be  borne 
during  the  period  at  the  Academy,  since  the  officers 
declined  to  comply  with  Ulysses's  request  and 
restore  the  name  to  its  original  form. 

Grant's  military  life  commenced  at  1 7,  the  time 
of  his  admission,  in  July,  1839, to  West  Point — the 
class  of  1843.  His  career  at  the  Military  Acad 
emy  was  characterized  by  these  features :  he  was 
quiet,  self-poised,  plodding,  and  not  brilliant,  except 
in  horsemanship.  He  was  a  green  youth  from  the 
backwoods,  and,  of  course,  there  was  a  disposition 
among  his  more  free  and  easy  classmates  to  snub 
him,  and  "  put  him  through,"  as  young  gentlemen 
from  sixteen  to  eighteen  are  fond  of  doing.  He 
also  came  in  for  his  share  of  the  "hazing,"  in  which 


Il6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  class  above  was  bound  to  indulge  toward  the 
fresh  class ;  but  his  self-respect  and  self-possession 
helped  him  easily  through  all  these,  and  he  was  in 
good  standing  with  his  classmates  before  the  term 
had  progressed  far.  He  had  few  intimates,  how 
ever,  and  among  these  were  Ingalls,  now  high  in 
the  Quartermaster's  department  of  the  army,  Frank 
lin  and  Steele,  both  distinguished  as  corps  com 
manders  during  the  late  war,  and  Augur,  one  of  the 
finest  soldiers  in  any  army,  and  a  cavalry  officer  of 
considerable  distinction. 

Of  the  intellectual  qualities  exhibited  at  West 
Point  by  young  Grant,  the  most  noticeable  was  his 
cool,  unerring,  judicial  faculty,  (such  that  his  class 
mates,  in  case  of  a  dispute,  were  accustomed  to  say, 
'We'll  leave  it  to  Uncle  Sam" — Grant's  soubriquet 
among  the  boys.)  Another,  he  was  much  above  the 
average  of  his  class  in  mathematics;  but  then  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  average  was  uncommonly 
low  for  West  Point.  Of  the  hundred  who  entered 
along  with  him,  Grant  was  one  of  the  thirty-nine 
who  got  through,  and  of  these  thirty-nine  he  stood 
the  twenty-first  on  the  list  at  graduation.  When 
his  class  rank  and  the  rank  of  his  class  amongst 
other  leading  Academy  classes  are  taken  into  con 
sideration  together,  there  is  nothing  remarkably 
favorable  to  be  inferred  concerning  his  intellectual 
standing  at  that  time.  But  it  has  generally  proved 
the  case  that  the  most  brilliant  cadets  have  not 
turned  out  the  ablest  generals,  or  the  ablest  men, 
when  set  to  work  in  the  world  of  affairs. 


GRANTS    MILITARY    CAREER.  117 

GRADUATES. 

Among  the  military  men  who  were  contempora 
ries  of  Grant  at  West  Point  were  Geo.  B.  McClel- 
lan,  Kirby  Smith  and  Thos.  Jeff.  ("Stonewall") 
Jackson,  of  the  class  of  1844;  Rosecrans,  Long- 
street,  Doubleday  and  Van  Dorn,  of  the  class  of 
1842;  Buell,  Rodman  (inventor  of  the  gun,)  Rey 
nolds  and  Lyon,  of  the  class  of  1841  ;  and  Sher 
man,  Thomas  and  Earle,  of  the  class  of  1840. 
Grant  graduated  on  the  3Oth  of  June,  1843,  caP~ 
ping  the  climax  of  the  feats  of  horsemanship  per 
formed  by  the  cadets  before  the  board  of  visitors 
by  leaping  the  famous  horse  "York"  over  a  hurdle 
six  feet  and  three  inches  in  height.  Receiving  his 
commission  of  Brevet  Second  Lieutenant — the 
same  which  is,  by  regulation,  awarded  to  all  gradu 
ating  cadets — young  Grant  betook  himself  to  his 
home  in  Ohio,  and  afterwards  to  St.  Louis,  the 
home  of  his  classmate  and  (now)  brother-in-law, 
Frederic  T.  Dent ;  his  principle  industry  for  a  time 
being  "waiting  orders"  and  paying  court  to  the 
young  sister  of  his  friend,  Miss  Julia  Dent,  fifth 
child  of  his  host,  Col.  Frederic  Dent.  Between 
this  young  pair — the  girl  being  then  seventeen — 
an  ardent  attachment  sprang  up,  which  ultimately 
resulted  in  their  union,  notwithstanding  the  very 
moderate  prospects  of  the  swain  and  the  high 
social  standing  of  his  sweetheart  had  seemed  to 
Miss  Julia's  parents  a  serious  obstacle  to  such  a 
union. 


Il8  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

SUMMONED  TO  ACTION. 

On  leaving  West  Point,  the  young  subaltern  was 
assigned  to  the  Fourth  Infantry — a  fine  old  regi 
ment,  with  a  record  stretching  back  into  a  former 
century;  and  when  in  the  early  summer  of  1845, 
the  difficulties  with  Mexico  began  to  culminate  in 
war,  the  regiment  was  rapidly  moved  to  a  point 
near  the  frontier  of  the  hostile  country,  and  Grant 
was  summoned  from  his  wooing  to  a  much  sterner 
scene. 

In  August  of  that  year  the  Fourth  took  up  a 
station  near  Corpus  Christi,  waiting  for  the  shock 
to  come.  On  the  ist  of  October,  Grant  received 
a  commission  as  full  Second  Lieutenant  in  the 
Seventh  Infantry  ;  but  with  the  esprit  du  corps  which 
characterizes  good  soldiers,  he  asked  to  be  retained, 
if  possible,  in  the  Fourth,  and  his  request  was 
granted.  On  the  ist  of  December,  Brevet  Second 
Lieutenant  Grant  received  his  commission  as  full 
Second  Lieutenant  in  his  favorite  corps.  It  could 
not  have  been  admiration  for  his  colonel,  which 
made  Grant  so  devoted  to  the  Fourth  ;  for  Colonel 
Whistler,  who  commanded,  was  a  miserable  toper, 
and  was  constantly  failing  and  disappointing  Gen. 
Taylor,  who  commanded  the  army. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  MEXICO. 

Grant's  first  engagement  was  at  Palo  Alto,  on  the 
2nd  of  May,  1846.  The  skirmish  of  Resaca  de  la 
Palma  followed  the  next  day,  and  the  army  of  In- 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  119 

vasion — squad  of  invasion,  it  would  have  been  called 
in  the  late  civil  war — went  on  its  triumphant  way 
toward  Monterey,  which  Taylor  stormed  and  cap 
tured  on  the  2ist  of  September,  1846.  By  this 
time,  Lieutenant  Grant  had  been  detailed  as 
quartermaster,  and  soon  after  as  adjutant  of  the 
regiment,  both  of  which  duties  he  discharged  simul 
taneously  and  satisfactorily.  At  Monterey,  after 
the  storming  party  to  which  Grant  belonged  had 
entered  the  city,  it  was  discovered  that  there  was 
no  ammunition  with  which  to  keep  up  the  fight — 
the  Mexicans  contesting  the  ground  inch  by  inch, 
and  keeping  up  a  rattling  hail  of  bullets  from  house 
tops  and  windows.  To  supply  this  pressing  want, 
Grant  put  his  fancy  horsemanship  to  good  use,  and 
made  a  ride  which  has  become  historical,  through 
showers  of  bullets  and  over  walls  and  ditches,  to 
Twiggs'  headquarters  for  ammunition.  He  is  said 
to  have  escaped  only  by  hanging,  Indian  fashion, 
along  one  side  of  his  steed. 

WITH  SCOTT. 

In  the  following  spring,  Grant's  regiment  was  as 
signed  to  the  force  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  who 
had  landed  at  Vera  Cruz  and  assumed  command  of 
the  movement  against  the  Mexican  capital,  leaving 
Taylor  with  barely  five  thousand  men  to  hold  Monte 
rey  and  the  mountain  country  around,  while  he  (the 
cornmander-in-chief)  undertook  his  famous  and 
brilliant  campaign  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico.  The 
way  was  won  by  dint  of  sharp  tactics  on  Scott's  part, 


I2O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

and  extraordinary  endurance  and  bravery  on  the 
part  of  his  men,  who  in  the  hard-fought  engagements 
at  Cerro  Cordo,  Contreras,  Churubusco,  Chapulta- 
pec  and  Molino  del  Rey,  achieved  no  little  glory 
for  American  arms.  They  achieved  it  not  without 
severe  sacrifices,  however.  Of  Grant's  regiment, 
which  was  attached  to  Worth's  splendid  division, 
and  which  went  to  Mexico  five  hundred  and  eleven 
strong,  one  hundred  and  ninety  perished  in  the 
campaign.  In  such  a  campaign  it  is  obvious  that  a 
young  officer  need  not  lack  opportunities  to  dis 
tinguish  himself. 

TWICE  BREVETTED  FOR  GALLANT  DEEDS. 

Grant,  though  a  quartermaster,  detached  from  the 
line,  insisted  upon  joining  in  all  the  actions,  and 
threw  himself  into  the  thickest  of  every  fight.  As 
a  consequence,  he  won  at  Molino  del  Rey  a  brevet 
as  First  Lieutenant,  and  at  Chapultapec,  a  still  fur 
ther  brevet  as  captain.  He  was  mentioned  in  the 
reports  of  his  brigade  commander  as  acquitting  him 
self  most  nobly  on  several  occasions  under  my  ob 
servation."  On  the  1 8th  of  September,  1847,  tne 
city  of  Mexico  was  captured,  and  General  Scott 
made  a  triumphal  entry  with  his  troops.  In  this 
triumph  joined  many  officers,  then  serving  as  mere 
subalterns  for  the  most  part,  who  were  destined 
afterwards  to  figure  most  conspicuously  in  the 
great  civil  war  of  1861-5, — some  on  the  side  of  the 
Union,  and  some  (alas  !  for  them)  on  the  side  of  dis 
union  and  rebellion.  Among  these  were  Generals 


GRANTS    MILITARY    CAREER.  121 

Grant,  McClellan,  Hancock,  Buell,Steele  and  Lyon, 
of  the  Federal,  and  Generals  Lee  and  Beauregard, 
of  the  Rebel  army.  In  Taylor's  force  were  many 
more  young  men  of  destiny,  including  Braxton, 
Bragg,  Pillow,  and  Hardee,  of  the  regular, 
and  Jeff.  Davis,  of  the  volunteer  army.  A  roll- 
call  of  all  the  officers  mustered  in  the  streets 
of  Mexico  on  the  morning  of  that  triumphal 
entry  would,  if  repeated  a  few  years  afterwards, 
have  been  answered  from  the  heads  of  a  hundred 
corps  and  divisions  of  the  two  great  hostile  hosts 
either  of  which  swallowed  up  scores  of  armies,  like 
that  which  we  sent  to  Mexico.  The  campaigns  of 
Scott  and  Taylor  were  thought  to  be  very  import 
ant  in  their  immediate  political  consequences.  They 
were  far  more  important  in  developing  generals  for 
the  great  struggle  to  which  this  Mexican  affair  was 
a  mere  preliminary  skirmish — or  rather,  a  simple 
drill  exercise. 

MARRIED    AND    SETTLED. 

With  the  capitulation  of  Mexico  the  war  with 
the  Mexican  Republic  ended;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  the  following  summer  that  the  treaty 
of  peace  was  ratified  by  both  countries,  and  the 
Army  of  Occupation  withdrawn.  Grant  arrived 
home  on  furlough  in  August  of  that  year,  and  on 
the  (to  him)  very  importamt  errand  of  marrying 
Miss  Dent — an  arrangement  to  which  the  parents 
of  that  young  lady  had,  perhaps,  become  more  rec 
onciled  by  the  brilliant  military  record  of  the  pro- 


122  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

posed  son-in-law.  At  all  events,  the  pair  wert 
married,  and  "  settled  down  " — so  much  as  an  army 
quartermaster  may  be  said  to  settle  down — in  quar 
ters  of  their  own,  at  Detroit — the  first  station  to 
which  Captain  Grant  was  assigned.  The  Bedouin- 
like  wanderings  to  which  the  exigencies  of  the  ser 
vice  condemned  him,  were  too  much  for  even  the 
strong  devotion  to  a  military  life  with  which  Grant 
had  become  imbued;  and  in  1854,  after  having 
been  successively  assigned  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  N. 
Y.;  Detroit ;  Fort  Columbus,  N.  Y.;  Benicia,  Cal.; 
Fort  Vancouver,  Oregon;  and  Fort  Humboldt, 
Colorado ;  and  having  then  obtained  the  full  rank 
of  Captain  of  the  Fourth  Infantry,*  he  resigned  his 
commission,  and  betook  himself  to  a  citizen's  life. 
When,  in  the  fall  of  1854,  he  retired  from  the 
army,  to  manage  the  little  unimproved  farm  at 
"  Hardscrabble,"  near  St.  Louis, — a  name  which 
seems  to  have  fitly  characterized  the  place  and  its 
proprietor's  farming  course, — Grant  was  the  father 
of  two  boys,  and  a  devoted  domestic  pater  familias 
Indeed,  it  was  only  his  devotion  to  wife  and  chil 
dren  that  induced  him  to  relinquish  that  military 
life  for  which  he  was  so  well  qualified,  and  to  which 

his  tastes  had  been  so  thoroughly  trained. 

i 

THE    FIRST    GUN GRANT    RESPONDS. 

Grant  now  spent  nearly  seven  years — dull   and 
unprofitable  years  apparently — in   the  pursuits  of 

*  His  commission,  as  such,  bears  date  August,  1853. 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  123 

civil  life ;  first,  on  the  iarm  near  St.  Louis,  after 
wards  in  that  city  as  partner  of  a  Mr.  Boggs,  in 
the  real  estate  business,  and  finally  as  a  partner 
with  his  father  in  the  leather  business,  at  Galena. 
It  was  his  vocation  as  a  tanner  which  led  his 
admirers  in  after  days  to  form  Tanner's  clubs  in 
furtherance  of  his  election  as  President.  He  was 
called  from  his  hides  and  "  findings "  by  the  guns 
which  battered  down  Sumpter;  and  a  few  days 
after  the  memorable  commencement  of  hostilities 
Grant  had  raised  a  company  at  Galena,  drilled 
them,  and  tendered  his  services,  both  at  Washing 
ton  and  to  the  Governor  of  his  State,  at  Spring 
field.  Governor  Yates  took  him  into  his  service, 
on  the  recommendation  of  Elihu  Washburne,  as 
Adjutant  General.  He  soon  after  tendered  him 
the  command  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Volun 
teer  Infantry,  and  Grant,  after  waiting  a  few  days 
for  the  War  Department  to  make  use  of  him  in 
the  regular  army,  if  it  chose,  accepted  the  commis 
sion.  Being  sent  to  Quincy,  111.,  and  afterwards 
into  Northeastern  Missouri,  to  defend  various  rail 
road  points,  Col.  Grant's  regiment  was  assimilated 
with  other  troops  into  a  brigade,  and  he  was  se 
lected  by  General  Pope,  commanding  the  district, 
as  acting  Brigadier. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

GRANTS    MILITARY   CAREER. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Volunteers — Brigadier  General — His 
Fellows  of  that  Rank — Captures  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson — Is  Pro 
moted  to  Major  General — Battle  of  Shiloh. 

THIS  was  early  in  July,  1861,  and  in  August 
Grant  received  a  commission  as  full  brigadier  gen 
eral.  His  commission  dates  from  the  May  preced 
ing.  He  was  one  of  the  first  "batch"  of  brigadier 
generals  of  volunteers,  and  amongst  the  rest  were 
Heintzelman,  Franklin,  Couch,  Kearney,  Sherman, 
Pope,  Buel,  Sigel  and  twenty-five  others,  the  most  of 
whom  became  more  famous  as  politicians  than  as 
soldiers.  Grant's  district  embraced  the  Mississippi 
and  its  valley  from  Cape  Girardeau  to  New  Madrid, 
and  the  lower  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  including  all  of 
Western  Kentucky.  Establishing  his  headquarters 
at  Cairo,  the  most  important  strategic  point  in  all 
that  valley,  Grant  threw  a  force  over  into  Paducah 
just  in  time  to  save  that  point  from  being  occupied 
by  Bishop  Folk's  rebels,  who  would  doubtless  oth 
erwise  have  soon  shelled  him  out  of  Cairo,  and 
made  havoc  generally. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    BELMONT. 

Grant's  first  engagement  was  on  the  7th  of  No- 

124 


GRANTS    MILITARY    CAREER. 


125 


vember,  at  Belmont,  a  small  town  on  the  west,  or 
right,  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  opposite  Columbus 
Ky.  This  engagement  wore  the  appearance  of  a 
defeat,  since  it  ended  by  the  Union  force  retreating 
to  their  starting  point,  leaving  their  dead  and 
wounded  in  the  enemy's  hands.  Subsequent 
reports,  however,  put  a  different  phase  upon,  it,  as 
it  was  made  to  appear  what  was  the  object  of  the 
expedition.  This,  according  to  the  official  report 
of  General  Grant,  was  mainly  to  demonstrate  upon 
Folk's  works,  and  prevent  him  from  reinforcing 
some  troops  against  whom  Pope  was  operating  in 
Missouri.  If  so,  its  object  was  accomplished, 
though  not  without  severe  loss  to  the  attacking 
party ;  viz.,  84  killed  and  300  wounded  and  missing 
out  of  a  command  of  2,850  men.  Of  the  five  regi 
ments  of  infantry,  one  battery  and  two  squadrons 
of  cavalry  engaged,  the  7th  Iowa  Infantry  suffered 
most  seriously.  The  rebel  loss  is  stated  by  some 
authorities  as  high  as  one  thousand  men ;  and  the 
rebel  force  was  certainly  larger  than  ours.  The 
affair  was  of  'the  nature  of  a  forest  skirmish,  and 
was  waged  with  great  courage  and  desperation  on 
both  sides.  It  was,  however,  magnified  into/a  grave 
defeat,  the  public  mind  being  morbidly  excited  after 
the  disasters  of  Big  Bethel  and  Bull  Run,  with 
which  the  war  opened.  It  proved  to  be  almost  the 
only  engagement  of  this  great  commander's  many 
trying  campaigns  which  could  be  construed  into  a 
defeat,  even  by  the  most  captious  of  his  detractors 


126  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

CAPTURE    OF    FORT    HENRY. 

The  brilliant  engagements  ending  with  the  cap 
ture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  of  which  Grant 
was  the  directing  genius,  occurred  in  the  February 
following,  having  been  set  on  foot  some  weeks  ear 
lier.     By  the   middle  of   January  the   Rebels  had 
established  a  pretty  continuous  and  well  defended 
line  (so  far  as  numerical  forces  were  concerned), 
stretching  from  Manassas  to  Columbus.     Lying  in 
this  line  were  several  important  strategic  points — 
none  more  so   than  Forts    Henry  and  Donelson— 
two  strong  earthworks  which  had  been  thrown  up 
and  were   rapidly  being  finished   off  as   first-class 
forts,  situated   respectively  on   the  Tennessee  and 
Cumberland  rivers,   where    those   great   navigable 
streams  approach  within  twelve  miles  of  each  other, 
and  not  far  south  of  the  boundary  between  Tennes 
see  and    Kentucky.     Against  these  Grant    moved 
early  in  February,  with  twenty  regiments  of  infan 
try,  one  regiment  and  four  independent  companies 
of  cavalry  and  four  batteries   of  artillery,  as  land 
forces,  aided  by  six  river  gun  boats,  of  the  pattern 
then  just    originated,    under    Commodore    Foote. 
Fort  Henry  was  easily  taken,  the  gallant  Commo 
dore  having  indeed  secured  its  capitulation  before 
the  land  forces  arrived  in  front. 

FORT    DONELSON. 

The  easily  won  victory  of  Fort  Henry  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  won  at  the 
end  of  two  day's  hard  fighting.  Fort  Donelson  was 
defended  by  Generals  Floyd  and  Pillow,  with  a  force 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  127 

of  sixteen  to  eighteen  thousand  men  and  a  very 
heavy  armament  of  columbiads  and  field  pieces. 
The  work  was  a  very  strong  one,  every  way  worthy 
in  the  engineering  skill  which  had  placed  and  plan 
ned  it  to  defend  the  most  important  stragetic 
point  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  movement 
upon  Donelson  from  the  fort  on  the  Tennessee 
was  made  on  the  1 1  th  of  February  ;  but  the  engage 
ment  on  land  was  not  commenced  until  the  i5th. 
(The  gunboats  had  been  pounding  away  during  the 
two  previous  days,  and  had  damaged  seriously  the 
water  batteries  of  the  fort,  and  at  the  same  time  ex 
perienced  severe  punishment  themselves.) 

Grant's  forces  consisted  of  the  divisions  of  Gen 
erals  McClernand,  C.  F.  Smith,  and  Lew.  Wallace. 
The  first  of  these  was  furiously  attacked  by  a  force 
of  10,000  rebels,  hurled  suddenly  against  them  at  day 
break.  The  engagement  thus  inaugurated  was  con 
tinued  all  day  with  varying  fortune,  Grant  sending 
McClernand  heavy  reinforcements  from  Smith  and 
Wallace,  and  at  the  same  time  pushing  the  attack 
on  the  right  of  the  enemies  lines,  which  had  been 
left  weakened  by  the  massing  in  front  of  McCler 
nand.  A  dashing  charge  was  made,  led  by  Smith 
in  person,  and  all  the  positions  carried.  This  was 
the  turning  point  in  the  engagement.  Night  closed 
in  and  the  attack  was  to  have  been  renewed  and  the 
advantage  followed  up  in  the  morning;  but  with 
the  morning  came  a  flag  of  truce  with  a  note,  pro 
posing  a  capitulation.  It  was  from  Simon  B.  Buck- 
ner — not  from  Floyd,  nor  yet  from  Pillow,  both  of 


128  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

whom  had  ignominiously  fled  during  the  night. 
GRANT'S  CORRESPONDENCE  IN  THE  FIELD. 

The  correspondence  which  ensued  between  the 
victorious  and  the  defeated  commanders  has  be 
come  famous,  and,  being  remarkably  laconic,  may 
be  properly  given  here.  Buckner  who  was  much 
more  of  a  soldier  by  nature  than  his  superiors,  and 
who  was  evidently  disgusted  at  their  course,  lost  no 
time  in  sending  Grant  the  following  note : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  FORT  DONELSON,  February  i6th,  1862. 
"  SIR  : — In  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances  governing  the  present 
situation  of  affairs  at  this  station,  I  propose  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
Federal  forces  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  agree  upon  terms  of 
capitulation  of  the  forces  and  fort  under  my  command,  and  in  that  view  sug 
gest  an  armistice  until  twelve  o'clock  to-day. 

"  I  am  sir  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"S.  B.  BUCKNER, 
"  Brigadier-General,  C.  S.  A. 

"  To  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  GRANT,  commanding  United  States  forces 
near  Fort  Donelson."% 

To  which  Grant  made  this  memorable  reply: 

HEAD-QUARTERS,  ARMY  IN  THE  FIELD, 
"CAMP  NEAR  DONELSON,  February  i6th,  1862. 
"  To  GENERAL  S.  B.  BUCKNER,  Confederate  Army  . 

"  Yours  of  this  date,  proposing  an  annistice  and  appointment  of  commis 
sioners  to  settle  terms  of  capitulation,  is  just  received.  No  terms  other  than 
an  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  upon  yoiir  works. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

"U.  S  GRANT, 
"  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding." 

And  soon  the  final  answer  came  from   Buckner : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  DOVER,  TENN.,  February  i6th,  1862. 
"  To  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT,  U.  S.  A. . 

«•  SIR  : — The  distribution  of  the  forces  under  my  command,  incident  to  an 
unexpected  change  of  commanders  and  the  overwhelming  force  under  your 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  I2Q 

command,  compel  me,  notwithstanding  the  brilliant  success  of  the  Confede 
rate  arms  yesterday,  to  accept  the  ungenerous  and  unchivalrous  terms  which 
you  propose. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

"S.  B.  BUCKNER, 
"  Brigadier-General,  C.  S.  A," 

It  may  be  added,  in  passing,  that  the  style  ex 
hibited  in  the  communication  to  Gen.  Buckner 
fairly  exemplifies  Grant's  style  of  correspondence 
in  similar  exigencies  throughout  the  war.  He  was 
always  laconic,  but  not  affectedly  so.  He  always 
embraced  all  the  essential  points  at  issue,  but  never 
expanded  upon  them,  nor  indulged  in  mere  brag- 
adocia  or  stilted  grandiloquence,  such  as  character 
izes  the  orders  and  proclamations  of  many  com 
manders,  both  great  and  small.  Grant's  brevity  of 
epistle  is  a  result  of  his  simplicity  of  diction  rather 
than  of  any  scarcity  of  ideas,  and  of  his  apparently 
intuitive  perception,  rather  than  labored  analysis 
of  the  elements  of  each  critical  situation. 

The  victory  at  Fort  Donelson  was  dearly  bought, 
though  no  less  so  than  could  have  been  expected 
from  the  exceeding  strength  of  the  work  to  be  taken 
and  the  courage  with  which  the  Confederate  troops 
fought.  Of  the  Union  forces,  446  were  killed,  1,735 
wounded  and  150  made  prisoners  ;  while  the  rebels 
lost  in  killed  2 31,  in  wounded  1,007  an<^  in  prisoners 
nearly  14,000 — a  few  having  escaped  along  with  the 
cowards,  Floyd  and  Pillow. 

PUBLIC    REJOICINGS. 

This  victory  occasioned  more  rejoicing  through 
out  the  North,  especially  the  Northwest,  than  any 


130  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

other  victory  of  the  war,  except  the  great  final  tri 
umphs  which  it  was  given  to  the  hero  of  the  Don- 
elson  fight  to  win  also.  Spontaneous  meetings  were 
held  everywhere  and  all  manner  of  jubilant  public 
demonstrations  were  indulged  in.  The  anniversary 
of  Washington's  birthday  came  within  a  day  or. two 
after  the  public  obtained  the  particulars  of  the  fight ; 
and  there  has  never  been  so  fervently  patriotic  a 
celebration  of  the  birthday  of  the  Father  of  his 
Country  as  took  place  on  the  22nd  of  February, 
1862.  The  writer  had  the  privilege  of  listening,  at 
Milwaukee,  to  a  very  eloquent  oration  from  Hon. 
Matthias  H.  Carpenter,  in  which  the  elogium  in 
memory  of  the  great  dead  was  gracefully  interwo 
ven  with  a  tribute  to  our  northern  soldiery  and  to 
their  intrepid  leader  in  Tennessee.  Little  did  his 
hearers  then  think,  when  mingling  their  tears  of 
gratitude  to  the  living  and  of  bereavement  for  the 
dead,  that  the  same  gifted  orator  would,  ten  years 
after,  be  called  upon  to  defend  the  fame  of  the  same 
gallant  General  from  attacks  of  slander  and  innu 
endo  made  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  inspir 
ed  by  motives  far  less  worthy  of  charity  than  those 
which  made  necessary  the  attack  upon  Donelson ! 

PROMOTED  TO  MAJOR  GENERAL. 

The  victory  achieved  at  Forts  Henry  and  Don 
elson  was  most  prolific  of  good  results.  The  nav 
igation  of  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers 
was  assured  by  it,  and  the  Rebel  line  of  occupation 
was  so  effectually  penetrated  that  it  had  to  be  with- 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  131 

drawn  fully  two  hundred  miles  on  the  average, 
necessitating  the  abandonment,  within  a  few  days, 
of  the  strongholds  of  Columbus,  Bowling  Green, 
and  Nashville,  all  of  which  were  speedily  occupied 
by  the  Union  armies.  For  this  achievement  Grant 
was  promoted  to  be  a  Major  General  of  volunteers. 
His  name  was  also  greatly  promoted  in  the  affec 
tions  of  all  loyal  people,  who,  whether  or  not  they 
appreciated  the  strategic  advantages  of  his  position, 
or  the  military  difficulties  which  he  had  overcome, 
did  appreciate  the  value  of  a  trustworthy  leader 
for  the  troops  whose  fighting  qualities  had  been  so 
bravely  demonstrated.  And  it  was  very  refreshing  to 
the  souls  of  the  patriotic  to  learn  of  a  signal  vic 
tory  to  the  national  arms  after  hearing  scarcely 
aught  for  months  but  disaster  to  a  cause  and  an 
army  that  deserved  only  good  fortune. 

SHILOH. 

Six  months  afterwards — as  soon  as  the  new  lev 
ies  of  troops,  now  rapidly  pouring  in  from  the 
North,  under  Lincoln's  call  for  half  a  million  of 
men,  could  be  organized  and  drilled  a  little — came 
the  battle  of  Pittsburgh  Landing;  or,  as  the  Reb 
els  called  it,  Shiloh.  This  was  a  step  in  the  aggres 
sive  campaign  which  had  been  inaugurated  (though 
unfortunately  with  Halleck,  the  least  aggressive  of 
generals,  to  direct  it)  against  the  strong  and  threat 
ening  forces  of  the  Rebels.  These  forces  had  been 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  Beauregard  from 
Manassas,  with  15,000  troops;  and  an  army  of  at 


132  THE  STRUGGLE  OF    J2. 

least  60,000  was  raised  at  Corinth,  under  command 
of  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  probably  the 
ablest  of  all  the  Rebel  generals.  To  dislodge  this 
army,  and  to  prevent  it  from  assuming  the  offensive, 
was  the  task  of  Grant.  To  this  end  he  crossed 
the  Tennessee  at  Savannah  and  took  up  a  position 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  at  Pittsburgh  Landing. 
The  ground,  a  series  of  wooded  ridges  and  ravines, 
flanked  by  creeks,  was  selected  by  General  C.  F. 
Smith,  with  reference  to  its  defensibility  against 
the  attack  which  the  enemy  was  deemed  sure  to 
make.  The  attack  came  rather  sooner  than  was 
expected,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April,  and 
before  Buell's  army,  which  formed  a  part  of  Grant's 
force,  could  come  up  from  Savannah.  The  organi 
zation  and  officering  of  the  contending  armies 
were  as  follows : 

REBELS. 

Force,  45,000. 

Commander-in-chief,  Gen.  A.  S.  Johnston. 
Second  in  Command,  Gen.  P.  T.  Beauregard. 
First  Corps,  Lieut-Gen.  Leonidas  Poik. 
Second  Corps,  Lieut-Gen.  Braxton  Bragg. 
Third  Corps,  Lieut-Gen.  W.  T.  Hardee. 
Reserves,  Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  Crittenden. 

UNION    FORCES. 

Force,  38,000. 

Commander-in-chief,  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant 

First  Division,  Maj.-Gen.  John  A.  McClernand. 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  133 

Second  Division,  Brig.-Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace. 

Third  Division,  Maj.-Gen.  Lewis  Wallace. 

Foiirth  Division,  Brig.-Gen.  S.  A.  Hurlbut. 

Fifth  Division,  Brig.-Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman. 

(The  Division  of  Gen.  Lew.  Wallace,  5,000  strong, 
was  not  engaged  during  the  first  days.) 

In  the  disposition  of  Grant's  forces  for  the  battle, 
Gen  Prentiss  occupied  the  left,  resting  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  near  the  mouth  of  Lick  Creek. 
At  his  right,  his  line  stretching  in  a  curvilinear  di 
rection  to  Owl  Creek,  was  Gen.  Sherman,  sup 
ported  in  the  rear  by  McClernand,  while  W.  H.  L. 
Wallace  was  posted  with  his  command  a  mile  in 
the  rear,  so  as  to  command  the  bridge  across  Owl 
Creek,  (or  Snake  Creek,  into  which  it  has  emptied) 
and  at  the  same  time  act  as  a  reserve  for  use  in 
case  the  attack  should  be  pressed  too  hotly  upon 
the  left  and  center,  To  guard  the  flank  and  rear, 
Lew,  Wallace  was  stationed  with  his  division  in 
column  by  brigades  across  the  Burdy  road,  near 
Crump  s  Landing,  six  miles  below. 

The  story  of  the  battle  was  briefly  this  (for  we 
must  not  go  into  detail  in  regard  to  each  of  Grant's 
battles — there  were  too  many  of  them) :  The 
fight  was  precipitated  by  a  collision  between  a 
small  reconnoitering  party  sent  out  from  Prentiss's 
headquarters,  and  the  advance  guard  of  the  enemy, 
who  had  already  assembled  for  the  attack.  The 
two  or  three  companies  of  scouts  were  driven  in 
pell-mell,  and  Prentiss's  force  a  good  deal  disor 
dered  by  the  suddenness  of  the  onset.  They  ral- 


134  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

lied,  however,  and,  with  help  from  McClernand, 
were  soon  able  to  make  a  stand.  The  battle  was 
waged  fiercely  all  the  forenoon,  all  along  Sherman's 
and  Prentiss's  lines  (the  latter  officer  was  taken 
prisoner  early  in  the  day,  together  with  a  consider 
able  portion  of  his  command),  and  again  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Rebels  made  a 
furious  charge  on  our  left.  This  last  was  directed 
by  Beauregard,  General  Johnston  having  fallen 
mortally  wounded  at  half  past  two  o'clock.  The 
plan  of  the  Rebel  commander  was  to  turn  Grant's 
left  flank  and  crowd  him  away  from  the  river  alto 
gether  ;  and  to  this  end  the  whole  force  of  the 
enemy  was  hurled  impetuously  against  the  raw 
levies  who  made  up  the  larger  part  of  Grant's  army. 
But  they  fought  with  all  the  firmness  and  more 
than  the  desperation  of  the  coolest  veterans.  The 
discharge  of  musketry  and  artillery  was  deafening 
and  continuous,  from  daylight  till  dark,  and  the 
wooded  ridges  and  ravines  which  formed  the  battle 
ground  were  covered  with  the  dead  and  wounded, 
men  and  horses.  Night  closed  in  upon  two  defeated 
and  shattered  armies.  That  is,  the  Union  forces 
were  driven  back  a  mile  all  along,  and  were  in  a 
bad  plight  for  fighting  on  the  morrow ;  and  as  for 
the  Rebels,  when  Grant,  reinforced  by  a  few  regi 
ments  brought  by  Buell,  and  by  the  division  of 
Wallace,  now  tardily  arrived  from  Crump's  Land 
ing,  ordered  an  advance  and  an  attack  at  daybreak, 
it  was  found  that  the  "Johnnies,"  too,  had  fallen 
back,  and  were  so  weak  as  to  afford  next  to  no 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  135 

resistance  to  the  onset.  A  pursuit  was  ordered 
under  Sherman ;  but  the  storm  of  Sunday  night 
had  rendered  the  roads  impracticable  for  cavalry, 
and  the  pursuit  was  not  pressed.  Beauregard,  who, 
according  to  contemporary  accounts,  had  made  his 
boast  that  he  "would  water  his  horses  that  night  in 
the  Tennessee  or  in  h — 1,"  was  in  full  retreat  away 
from  the  Tennessee,  and  presumably  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  other  place  named. 

During  the  terrible  engagement  of  Sunday — one 
of  the  most  severe  of  modern  times — General 
Grant  had  been  always  noticeable  for  his  activity 
and  energy,  though  always  cool  and  seemingly  ob 
livious  to  danger.  He  seemed  ubiquitous,  and 
more  than  once  averted  disaster  by  his  presence 
and  timely  directions.  Prodigies  of  valor  were 
displayed  by  officers  and  prodigies  of  endurance 
by  the  men.  General  Sherman  had  three  horses 
shot  under  him  and  received  two  wounds,  but  kept 
his  saddle  in  spite  of  them.  At  night,  after  giving 
directions  for  the  morrow,  Grant  (who,  by  the  way, 
had  been  suffering  for  two  days  with  a  sprained 
ankle,  which  disabled  him  either  from  walking  or 
mounting  without  help),  lay  down  on  the  field 
and  slept,  with  a  log  for  his  pillow,  and  the  sleety 
rain  falling  upon  him.  But  this  was  no  worse  for 
the  General  commanding  than  for  his  noble  troops 
—not  so  bad  as  for  the  thousands  of  them  who  lay 
wounded  upon  the  field,  the  most  of  them  in  hostile 
hands,  as  they  believed.  The  losses  of  the  Union 
army  in  this  bloody  engagement  amounted  to  1,700 


136  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

killed,  7,495  wounded  and  3,022  missing;  while 
those  of  the  Rebels  were  still  greater  in  killed  and 
wounded,  but  aggregating  about  1,500  less  than 
ours. 

GRANT'S  GENERALSHIP  CRITICISED. 

General  Grant's  management  of  this  affair  has 
been  a  subject  of  much  acrimonious  discussion. 
The  friends  of  Halleck  and  Buell,  jealous  of  the 
fame  which  Grant  was  already  winning,  made  a 
persistent  exhibition  of  all  the  unfavorable  features 
of  the  engagement — such  as  the  severe  mortality 
among  our  troops  (the  rebels  lost  still  more),  the 
surprise  of  Prentiss  and  Stuart,  and  especially  the 
absence  of  General  Grant  during  the  first  three 
hours  of  the  engagement.  The  only  criticism  which 
seems  to  stand  the  test  of  subsequent  investi 
gation  and  very  free  discussion  by  men  of  military 
science  is  that,  in  view  of  the  proximity  and  sup 
posed  force  of  the  enemy,  Grant  should  not  have 
ent  renched  himself  in  front.  This  mistake,  however, 
was  shared  by  Sherman  and  by  other  officers  of 
now  acknowledged  genius ;  and  it  was  counterbal 
anced  by  such  qualities  and  feats  on  the  part  of  the 
Commander-in-chief,  during  the  progress  of  the 
fight,  as  were  unquestionably  the  means  of  winning 
it  in  more  than  one  crisis  when  another  commander 
would  have  lost.  The  charge  was  made  that  the 
army  was  not  efficiently  directed  during  the  first  day 
of  the  battle ;  and  Don  Carlos  Buell,  who  arrived 
quite  at  his  leisure,  at  four  o'clock  that  afternoon, 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  139 

caused  it  to  be  understood  that  he  then  found  the 
army  practically  without  ahead.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth.  Grant's  orders,  from  the  time 
of  leaving  Savanna  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  ordering  up  Nelson's  division  (the  advance  of 
Buell's  army)  to  the  time  of  directing  the  triumphant 
advance  on  Monday  morning,  were  those  of  a  clear 
headed  and  far-seeing  general,  as  well  as  an  active 
and  courageous  soldier.  At  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday 
forenoon,  when  Sherman  was  so  hotly  pressed, 
Grant  was  with  him,  sustaining  him  with  his  coun 
sel  ,  at  other  critical  junctures  and  places  during 
the  day,  he  was  always  to  be  found,  reforming  the 
line  and  giving  directions ;  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  he  met  Buell  at  the  Landing ;  at  five 
o'clock  he  placed  in  position  a  brigade  just  arrived 
from  Nelson's  Division  across  the  river ;  in  the  even 
ing  he  met  Buell  and  Sherman  for  consultation,  and 
gave  orders  for  the  attack  on  the  following  morn 
ing.  When  Buell  arrived,  his  question  to  Grant 
was,  "  Well,  General,  what  preparations  have  you 
made  for  retreating?"  And  Grant's  answer,  "I 
haven't  despaired  of  whipping  them  yet,"  and  his 
order  to  hurry  up  the  troops  from  Savanna  showed, 
when  coupled  with  the  result  of  the  next  day's  ad 
vance,  that  Grant  understood  the  situation  much 
better  than  his  critic. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  battle  of 
Shiloh  was  the  first  general  engagement  since  the 
disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run,  in  which  a  large, 
well  organized  and  well  commanded  force  of  the 


140  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  72. 

rebels  had  been  met  by  our  boys,  and  that  the 
result  was,  at  all  events,  such  as  to  completely 
erase  the  painful  impression  produced  by  the  panic 
into  which  the  Northern  army  had  been  thrown. 
General  Wm.  Tecumseh  Sherman,  now  General-in- 
Chief  of  the  army,  (and  who  warmly  defends  the 
course  of  Grant  at  Shiloh),  is  of  opinion  that  just 
such  a  deadly  engagement  as  this  was  necessary, 
to  demonstrate  the  perfect  morale  of  our  men  when 
on  the  field  and  without  entrenchments — a  very 
important  element  in  the  conduct,  plan  and  man- 
a'gement  of  all  military  operations. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Halleck  in  Command — Corinth  Captured — Battle  of  luka — Desperate  Fight 
ing  at  Corinth — The  Rebels  Out-Generaled — Grant  as  an  Administrator — 
Vicksburg  Striven  After — Two  Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  Reach  it — Grant 
"Takes  the  Responsibility,"  and  Wins  the  Most  Decisive  Victory  of  the 
War. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  1862,  General  Halleck,  in 
charge  of  the  department,  took  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  combined  armies  of  Grant  and  Buell. 
Sherman,  with  a  large  cavalry  and  infantry  force, 
made  a  reconnoisance  on  the  line  toward  Corinth, 
and,  after  a  brief,  but  brilliant  skirmish,  compelled 
an  outlying  force  of  the  enemy  to  retire,  and  de 
stroyed  their  camp.  Several  movements  of  a  sim 
ilar  character  were  made  by  our  forces  during  the 
month  of  April.  On  the  3Oth,  the  town  of  Purdy 
was  occupied,  two  important  bridges  were  blown 
up,  and  the  siege  of  Corinth  began  to  assume  defi 
nite  shape.  Beauregard  made  good  use  of  his  time 
in  concentrating  his  forces  and  strengthening  his 
fortifications. 

The  Grand  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  organ 
ized  early  in  May,  under  the  supreme  command  of 
General  Halleck,  as  follows :  The  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  under  Grant,  was  on  the  right ;  Buell, 


J42  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

with  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  occupied  the  center, 
and  Pope's  Army  of  the  Mississippi  was  on  the 
left.  There  were  in  all  sixteen  divisions,  eight  of 
which  were  in  the  army  of  General  Grant,  whose 
right  wing  was  commanded  by  General  George 
H.  Thomas.  Grant  was  made  second  in  command, 
under  Halleck,  a  promotion  which  was  warmly  ap 
proved  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Grand  Army. 

CAPTURE    OF    CORINTH. 

The  investment  of  Corinth  proceeded  with  credit 
able  rapidity.  From  the  8th  of  May  to  the  i6th, 
there  was  almost  continual  skirmishing  between 
the  advance  guards  on  both  sides.  On  the  i  ;th, 
Sherman  captured  Thorsell's  House,  a  strong  point 
which  was  held  by  a  large  Rebel  force.  The  place 
was  immediately  occupied  by  our  victorious  troops. 
On  the  2ist  Thomas  A.  Davis's  division,  after  a 
very  sharp  engagement,  captured  an  important 
bridge,  within  shelling  distance  of  the  Southern 
lines,  north  of  Philips  s  Creek.  Sherman's  division 
drove  a  strong  body  of  the  enemy  on  the  27th,  and 
on  the  28th  the  columns  commanded  by  Thomas, 
Pope  and  Buell,  under  the  chief  direction  of  Gen 
eral  Grant,  advanced  within  easy  gunshot  range  of 
the  Rebel  stronghold.  The  loss  on  our  side  was 
severe,  but  the  fight  sickened  the  enemy,  who,  on 
the  succeeding  day,  evacuated  Corinth,  conceiving 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  defend  it  successfully 
against  the  skillful  disposition  and  impatient  valor 
of  our  investing  force.  The  fifth  division  of  Grant's 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  143 

Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  the  first  to  plant  its 
colors  on  the  captured  ramparts.  The  enemy  were 
vigorously  pursued,  but  their  flight  was  so  rapid 
that  nothing  could  be  done  with  them,  beyond  de 
stroying  railroad  communications  and  capturing 
supplies.  General  Sherman  again  signalized  him 
self  in  this  pursuit,  and  at  Holly  Springs  damaged 
the  enemy's  communications  with  such  effect  that 
their  future  movements  were  much  embarrassed. 
The  pursuers  were  then  recalled  and  the  Grand 
Army  rested  on  its  arms. 

When  Memphis  capitulated,  in  the  month  of 
June.  1862,  Grant  visited  that  city,  and  placed  a 
Provost-Marshal  in  charge  of  it.  He  immediately 
issued  such  orders  as  effectually  checked  the  rebel 
lious  practices  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens.  The 
guerilla  outrages  were  greatly  mitigated  and  illicit 
trade  with  Rebels  in  arms  was  peremptorily  pro 
hibited.  The  families  of  such  persons  as  held  offi 
cial  position,  civil  or  military,  under  the  Rebel  Gov 
ernment  were  ordered  to  move  south  beyond  our 
lines,  unless  they  signed  a  prescribed  parole  and 
guaranteed  good  behavior  in  the  future.  Other 
important  orders  were  also  issued,  all  of  which  had 
a  happy  effect  on  our  cause,  and  showed  favorably 
for  the  executive  ability  of  General  Grant. 

GRANT    SUPREME    IN    THE    SOUTHWEST. 

General  Halleck  bade  farewell  to  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  on  the  i;th  of  July,  and 
proceeded  to  the  National  Capitol,  where  he  as- 


144  THE    STUGGLE    OF     /2. 

sumed  a  still  higher  office,  that  of  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Union  Armies.  The  Department  of 
the  Mississippi  was  then  subdivided,  and  Grant  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  Department  of  West 
Tennessee,  his  headquarters  being  at  Corinth.  This 
was  the  idlest  military  period  of  Grant's  active  career 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  From  July  until  the 
middle  of  September  nothing  of  importance,  from 
a  fighting  standpoint,  occurred.  Some  skirmishes 
took  place,  in  which  our  troops  where  uniformly  the 
victors.  The  army  was  perfected  in  discipline,  and 
the  rebel  positions  were  fully  reconnoitred,  prepar 
atory  to  another  campaign. 

On  the  nth  day  of  August  1862,  the  following 
significant  order  was  issued : 

GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATIVE  ORDERS. 

On  the  nth  of  August,  1862,  General  Grant  is 
sued  an  important  order  (published  in  full  in  a  sub 
sequent  chapter)  relating  to  the  employment  of 
negroes  who  came  into  camp  as  fugitives  from  slav 
ery.  He  soon  afterwards  caused  the  adoption  in 
his  army  of  a  system  of  educating  and  caring  for 
the  negroes,  which  was  substantially  that  adopted 
afterwards  by  Congress  in  the  formation  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau.  On  the  i6th  of  the  same 
month  another  order  was  issued  providing  for  the 
enlistment  of  all  skulkers,  from  States  within  the 
Union,  who  would  be  subject  to  the  draft  if  at  home. 
Their  enrollment  was  to  be  allowed  for  in  the 
quotas  of  their  proper  districts.  Traffic  with  the 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  145 

enemy,  or  with  sympathizers  with  the  rebellion,  was 
forbidden,  under  heavy  penalties. 

BATTLE    OF    IUKA. 

On  the  day  of  the  famous  battle  of  Antietam, 
September  17,  1862,  General  Grant  ordered  an  ad 
vance  against  the  rebel  commander,  Sterling  Price, 
who  had  concentrated  his  forces  near  luka,  on  the 
Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad.  Price  had  with 
him  about  15,000  men,  and  was  endeavoring  to  de 
ceive  Grant  into  the  belief  that  he  intended  to  fol 
low  Buell's  army,  which  was  then  retiring  upon 
Nashville.  He  wanted  to  draw  Grant  away  from 
Corinth,  upon  which  place  Van  Dorn's  rebel  column 
was  marching  with  rapid  strides.  Price's  plan, 
which  Grant  instantly  penetrated,  was  to  join  his 
forces  to  Van  Dorn's  and  so  recapture  the  fortified 
camp  which  the  rebel  army  had  evacuated  in  the 
early  part  of  the  campaign.  Grant  was  aware,  from 
information  he  received  through  his  scouts,  that  it 
would  require  at  least  four  days'  rapid  marching  to 
bring  Van  Dorn  before  Corinth.  In  that  time  he 
hoped  to  surround  and  capture  Price, — so  he  laid 
his  plans  accordingly. 

General  Ord,  with  about  3,500  men,  having  left 
garrisons  at  Corinth  and  other  points  of  import 
ance,  was  ordered  to  move  on  the  left  of  the  rail 
road  to  luka.  General  Ross,  posted  at  Bolivar, 
was  ordered,  by  telegram,  to  follow  that  route  also, 
raising  the  Union  force,  which  was  destined  to  attack 
Price  from  the  North,  to  something  over  6,500 men. 


146  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Stanley's  division,  of  Rosecrans's  command,  with 
Mizner's  troopers,  was  ordered  to  move  by  way  of 
Jacinto,  and  so  take  the  enemy  in  flank,  while 
Hamilton's  brigade  was  ordered  to  move  around  by 
the  Fulton  road,  so  as  to  encompass  the  enemy  on 
the  south  and  cut  off  his  retreat,  or,  at  least,  throw 
him  into  hopeless  confusion. 

The  forces  were  pretty  nearly  equalized,  but  the 
enemy  had  the  advantage  of  position.  At  4  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  September  18,  the  grand  move 
ment  of  our  troops  commenced.  Rosecrans,  that 
same  night,  having  marched  all  day  over  bad  roads 
and  through  a  heavy  rain-storm,  rested  his  tired 
soldiers  at  Jacinto.  He  continued  his  advance 
early  next  morning,  and,  after  sharp  fighting  at 
Barnett's  Corners,  marched  direct  on  luka  and  en 
countered  Price  in  force  on  the  center  ridge  which 
helped  to  defend  that  position.  The  fighting  lasted 
until  darkness  set  in,  and,  during  the  long  struggle, 
three  guns,  belonging  to  an  Ohio  regiment,  were 
frequently  taken  and  retaken,  but  finally,  at  night, 
the  enemy  held  them. 

Grant  rode  with  Ord's  column,  expecting,  when 
he  reached  the  objective  point,  to  be  in  full  com 
munication  with  Rosecrans.  That  general  had, 
however,  encountered  greater  difficulties  than  he 
calculated  upon.  The  roads  on  the  line  of  his  ad 
vance  were  miserable.  The  rebels  were  well  posted 
and  in  formidable  force  and  the  messengers  sent  by 
either  general,  being  unused  to  that  tangled  coun 
try,  lost  their  way  in  the  woods  so  that  the  com- 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  147 

munications  sent  after  operations  began,  were  late 
in  arriving.  Thus  Ord's  force  could  not  be  brought 
into  action  in  time  to  capture  Price  and  his  army, 
but  the  approach  of  our  soldiers  from  the  North 
made  the  rebel  commander  retreat  in  hot  haste  in 
the  direction  of  Bay  Springs,  twenty-seven  miles 
south  from  the  battle  field.  He  had  lost  one  of 
his  best  officers,  Gen.  Little ;  his  diversion  in  favor 
of  Van  Dorn  was  defeated  ;  he  had  lost  over  2,000 
of  his  men,  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners. 

Grant,  although  the  effort  to  surround  Price  had 
failed,  had  effectually  punished  his  audacity,  de 
moralized  his  forces  and  prevented  his  proposed 
attack  on  Corinth,  at  least  for  that  time. 

Meanwhile  Van  Dorn  was  marching  from  the 
West,  hoping  to  eat  up  Grant's  forces  without  even 
a  note  of  warning.  Price's  fugitive  army,  having 
made  a  tremendous  circuit,  joined  Van  Dorn  at 
Dumas  and  the  combined  forces  moved  northward 
on  Pocahontas,where  they  were  still  further  strength 
ened  by  the  rebel  division  of  Mansfield  Lovell. 
The  enemy  then  marched  by  the  railroad,  through 
Chewalla,  upon  Corinth. 

THE  BATTLE,  ABOUT   CORINTH. 

Grant,  being  in  a  state  of  uncertainty  as  to 
which  route  the  rebels  would  decide  to  advance 
upon,  had  provided  for  the  safety  of  all  the  posts 
within  his  command.  Rosecrans  had  been  marched 
back  from  Jacinto  and  reached  Corinth  on  Septem 
ber  26.  Ord  was  stationed  at  Bolivar,  which  was 


148  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

a  threatened  point,  and  from  which  he  could  read 
ily  support  Rosecrans  in  the  event  of  a  strong  at 
tack  upon  his  position.  Hurlbut's  division  senti 
nelled  the  country  toward  Pocahontas,  while  Gen 
eral  Grant's  headquarters  were  at  Jackson. 

The  works  at  Corinth  had  been  improved,  under 
Grant's  orders,  in  a  manner  that  rendered  them  de 
fensible  by  a  small,  as  well  as  by  a  large  army,  for 
which  they  were  originally  intended.  Every  pre 
caution  was  taken,  and  Corinth  was  a  very  hard 
rock  against  which  Van  Dorn  was  determined  to 
dash  his  unfortunate  soldiers. 

The  3d  of  October  brought  the  enemy  in  force 
on  the  Chewalla  road.  The  reconnoitering  troops, 
after  a  heavy  fight,  were  driven  in  on  the  outer 
intrenchments,  which  they  stubbornly  defended. 
Davis's  brigade  lost  two  heavy  guns  in  the  retreat, 
and  the  yelling  foe  halted  within  range  of  our  ram 
parts.  Van  Dorn  immediately  telegraphed  Jeff. 
Davis  that  he  had  gained  a  surprising  victory. 
The  rebels  made  merry  in  their  camps  that  night, 
and  devoured  their  hoe  cake  with  gusto. 

Next  morning,  the  memorable  4th  of  October, 
dawned  on  one  of  the  most  fiercely  contested 
battles  of  that  murderous  war.  The  enemy,  during 
the  night,  had  erected  several  batteries  in  our  front, 
and  had  closed  up  their  lines  to  within  1,000 
yards  of  our  works.  Their  generals  addressed 
them  in  stirring  words,  and  they  were  wild  for  the 
onset. 

Our  men  stood  cool  and  firm,  making  no  demon- 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  149 

strations,  but  evincing-  a  calm  courage  that  was  well 
borne  out  on  that  sanguinary  day. 

The  enemy  opened  the  ball  with  a  fierce  cannon 
ade  from  the  batteries  erected  on  our  right,  which 
was  held  by  the  division  of  General  Hamilton,  sup 
ported  by  Dillon's  battery.  Davies's  division,  sup 
ported  by  the  Powell  battery,  occupied  the  centre, 
while  Stanley's  division,  protected  by  the  batteries 
of  Williams  and  Robinett,  defended  the  extreme 
left  of  our  line.  The  attack  on  Davies  was  the  first 
grand  movement  of  the  day,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
most  determined  on  record.  The  rebel  columns, 
headed  by  Price,  rushed  upon  our  left  centre,  de 
spite  our  tremendous  fire,  like  furious  bisons.  They 
fell  in  whole  sections,  but  nothing  in  the  way  of 
cannon  balls  and  cannister  could  drive  them  back. 
Davies's  division  was  too  hard  pressed,  and  began 
to  waver,  but  Rosencrans  rushed  to  its  aid,  and, 
fighting  magnificently,  drove  back  the  savage  hordes. 
The  latter,  however,  rallied  again,  advanced  with 
fresh  fury  and  actually  entered  the  outskirts  of  the 
town,  where  they  were  finally  mowed  down  and 
bloodily  repulsed  by  a  section  of  artillery,  which 
was  gallantly  supported  by  the  Tenth  Ohio  and 
Fifth  Minnesota  infantry. 

Price  had  thus  disastrously  failed,  but  Van  Dorn, 
not  to  be  outdone  in  foolhardy  valor,  led  a  terrific 
attack  on  our  left,  which,  after  a  terrible  struggle, 
was  driven  back  in  confusion.  Again  the  glorious 
maniacs,  led  by  brainless  officers,  are  hurled  into 
the  very  flaming  mouth  of  destruction.  Nothing 


150  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

daunted,  on  they  came,  strewing  the  intervening" 
ground  with  their  dead  and  wounded,  mown  down 
like  summer  grass.  Their  charging  shout  was 
heard  even  above  that  infernal  din.  But  all  was  in 
vain.  Torn  with  round  shot,  shattered  with  grape, 
mown  down  by  shell,  and  literally  overwhelmed  by 
a  concentrated  fire  of  musketry,  those  dauntless 
troops,  worthy  of  wiser  leaders  and  a  better  cause, 
were  at  length  compelled  to  retreat,  from  sheer  ex 
haustion.  Our  brave  fellows,  having  received  the 
stirring  order  to  charge  upon  the  foe,  advanced  at 
a  double-quick,  and  quickened  the  enemy's  flight. 
They  retreated  on  Pocahontas,  where,  early  on  the 
morning  of  October  5th,  they  were  attacked  by  the 
division  of  General  Hurlbut,  which  Grant  had  dis 
patched  on  that  route  to  intercept  them.  The  en 
emy  were  driven  back  over  the  Hatchie  river,  to 
ward  Corinth.  Ord  now  arrived  and  took  com 
mand.  The  pursuit  was  very  vigorous.  The  Reb 
els  retreated  to  Crum's  Mill,  six  miles  above,  where 
they  recrossed  the  Hatchie  in  a  fearfully  disorgan 
ized  condition.  Their  ruin  being  complete,  Grant 
recalled  the  pursuers  and  issued  a  congratulatory 
order  to  the  troops  who  had  participated  in  the 
dreadful  conflict.  This  order  is  worthy  of  being 
preserved : 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  88. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  WEST  TENNESSEE. 

JACKSON,  TENN.,  October  7,  1862. 

It  is  with  heartfelt  gratitude  the  general  commanding  congratulates  the 
armies  of  the  West  for  another  great  victory,  won  by  them  on  the  3d,  4th, 
and  5th  instant,  over  the  combined  armies  of  Van  Dorn,  Price  and  Lovell. 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  15! 

The  enemy  chose  his  own  time  and  place  of  attack,  and,  knowing  the 
troops  of  the  West  as  he  does,  and  with  great  facilities  for  knowing  their 
numbers,  never  would  have  made  the  attempt,  except  with  a  superior  force 
numerically.  But  for  the  imdaunted  bravery  of  officers  and  soldiers \  who  have 
yet  to  learn  defeat,  the  efforts  of  the  enemy  must  have  proven  successful. 

Whilst  one  division  of  the  army,  under  Major-General  Rosecrans,  was 
resisting  and  repelling  the  onslaught  of  the  Rebel  hosts  at  Corinth,  another, 
from  Bolivar,  under  Major-General  Hurlbut,  was  marching  upon  the  enemy's 
rear,  driving  in  their  pickets  and  cavalry,  and  attracting  the  attention  of  a 
large  force  of  infantry  and  artillery.  On  the  following  day  under  Major- 
General  Ord  these  forces  advanced  with  unsurpassed  gallantry,  driving  the 
enemy  back  across  the  Hatchie,  over  ground  where  it  is  almost  incredible 
that  a  superior  force  should  be  driven  by  an  inferior,  capturing  two  of  the 
batteries  (eight  guns),  many  hundred  small-arms,  and  several  hundred 
prisoners. 

To  those  two  divisions  of  the  army  all  praise  is  due,  and  will  be  rewarded 
by  a  grateful  country. 

Between  them  there  should  be,  and  I  trust  are,  the  warmest  bonds  of  broth 
erhood.  Each  was  risking  life  in  the  same  cause,  and,  on  this  occasion, 
risking  it  also  to  save  and  assist  the  other.  No  troops  could  do  more  than 
these  separate  armies.  Each  did  all  possible  for  it  to  do  in  the  places  as 
signed  it. 

As  in  all  great  battles,  so  in  this,  it  becomes  our  fate  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
many  brave  and  faithful   officers  and  soldiers  who  have  given  up  their  lives 
as  a  sacrifice  for  a  great  principle.     The  nation  mourns  for  them. 
By  command  of 

MAJOR-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

JOHN  A.  RAWLINS,  A.  A.  G. 

The  plans  of  General  Grant  had  succeeded  be 
yond  his  most  sanguine  hopes.  He  had  confided 
to  Rosecrans,  for  the  defence  of  Corinth,  the  fol 
lowing  troops:  Hamilton's  division,  containing  the 
brigades  of  Buford  and  Sullivan  ;  Davies's  division, 
brigades  of  Oglesby  and  Hackelman ;  Stanley's 
division,  nine  regiments;  McArthur's  and  Oliver's 
brigades,  commanded  by  McArthur.  Batteries: 
First  Missouri;  Third  Michigan;  Company  F, 
United  States  artillery;  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Ohio; 
Eighth  and  Twelfth  Wisconsin  ;  Three  Missouri 


152  THE    STUGGLE    OF    '72. 

companies,  together  with  the  strong  batteries  al 
ready  mentioned. 

With  the  commands  of  Hurlbut  and  Ord  he  had 
operated  in  rear  of  the  discomfited  foe  and  com 
pleted  his  demoralization.  The  enemy  had  lost 
in  killed  1,423  officers  and  enlisted  men;  nearly 
6,000  in  wounded  and  2,300  prisoners,  while  four 
teen  regimental  colors  and  two  pieces  of  field  ord 
nance  were  among  the  trophies  of  this  brilliant 
victory.  Our  loss  was  relatively  slight,  amounting 
to  only  2,000  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Gen 
eral  Hackelman  was  killed  and  Generals  Ord  and 
Oglesby  were  both  severely  wounded. 

President  Lincoln  telegraphed  his  congratu 
lations,  and  asked  how  it  all  summed  up.  It  cleared 
Grant's  road  to  Vicksburg.  The  country  again  did 
honor  to  the  Western  heroes,  and  Corinth  became 
a  synonym  of  hope  to  all  loyal  citizens  of  the 
United  States. 

AGAIN    PROMOTED. 

The  War  Department  recognized  the  services  of 
General  Grant  by  making  him,  on  October  16,  1862, 
Commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee, 
embracing  the  State  of  Mississippi  to  Vicksburg, 
together  with  Cairo,  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson, 
and  those  portions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
west  of  the  river  of  the  latter  name. 

Grant  established  his  headquarters  at  Jackson, 
Tenn.,  and,  on  the  26th  of  October,  issued  a  general 
order  placing  the  District  of  Memphis  under  con- 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  153 

trol  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman ;  the  District  of 
Jackson  under  charge  of  General  W.  S.  Hurlbut; 
the  District  of  Corinth  under  command  of  General 
C.  S.  Hamilton,  and  the  District  of  Columbus  under 
the  orders  of  General  T.  A.  Davies.  These  Dis 
tricts  comprised  four  geographical  divisions,  each 
commander  being  held  responsible  to  the  head  of 
the  Department.  The  Army  of  the  Mississippi  was 
continued  as  a  separate  organization,  and  matters  of 
detail  were  clearly  disposed  of. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  on  November  i, 
General  Grant  issued  a  general  order  which  regu 
lated  the  movements  of  trains  and  limited  the 
equipments  of  the  soldiery  to  the  smallest  possible 
weight  and  bulk.  He  set  his  face  against  the  en 
cumbrance  of  numerous  baggage  wagons ;  dis 
countenanced  dandyism  in  the  office,  and  set  an 
example  to  all  his  forces  by  going  through  the  ap 
proaching  campaign  destitute  of  everything  super 
fluous  in  the  way  of  personal  baggage. 

VICKSBURG  NEXT! 

The  fall  of  Memphis  had  left  the  Mississippi 
open,  from  Minneapolis  on  the  North,  and  from 
New  Orleans  on  the  South,  to  Vicksburg  and,  the 
country  surrounding  it,  which  was  held  by  the  rebel 
forces  under  John  C.  Pemberton. 

Vicksburg,  key  of  the  Mississippi,  was  now  the 
splendid  prize  toward  which  the  undaunted  mind 
of  Grant  was  directing  all  its  attention. 

The  attempt  to  cut  a  new  channel  for  the  Mis- 


154  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

sissippi,  and  leave  Vicksburg  high  and  dry  inland, 
had  failed.  Farragut  had  been  operating  around 
Vicksburg  with  his  fleet,  about  the  middle  of  the  sum 
mer  ;  he  had  even  silenced  some  of  the  enemy's 
batteries ;  but  low  water  had  eventually  compelled 
him  to  take  his  flotilla  down  the  river  to  New 
Orleans. 

Pemberton's  main  army  covered  Vicksburg  on 
the  line  of  the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad,  the 
strong  points  of  his  position  being  Abbeville,  be 
hind  the  Tallahatchie  river,  and  Holly  Springs, 
Miss.  His  advance  guard  was  posted  between 
Grand  Junction  and  La  Grange. 

THE    FIRST    ASSAULT. 

Several  reconnoisances  had  been  made  by  our 
troops,  under  Grant's  directions,  and,  on  Novem 
ber  4th,  that  general's  plans  having  been  completed 
and  his  forces  concentrated,  he  pushed  briskly  for 
ward  and,  encountering  Pemberton's  advance  at 
La  Grange,  drove  it  back,  with  great  loss,  on  Holly 
Springs.  This  movement  flanked  the  enemy  at 
Grand  Junction,  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
Railroad,  and  they  rapidly  fell  back  from  that  posi 
tion.  Grant  urged  forward  his  elated  troops,  and 
succeeded  in  capturing  Ripley,  Orizaba  and  Hud- 
sonville,  thereby  uncovering  the  enemy's  strong 
positions  of  Holly  Springs  and  Coldwater. 

Sherman  was  advancing  from  Memphis  with  a 
splendid  army,  and  an  expeditionary  force  from 
Arkansas,  under  Generals  A.  T.  Hovey  and  Wash- 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  155 

burne,  was  taking  the  Rebel  army  in  flank.  Thus, 
surrounded  on  almost  every  side,  Lovell,  who  com 
manded  that  portion  of  the  Rebel  army,  aban 
doned  the  line  of  the  Tallahatchie  and  fell  back  in 
confusion,  without  making  even  a  respectable  effort 
to  defend  his  position. 

It  would  be  impossible,  in  a  book  of  this  extent, 
to  give  details  of  the  brilliant  manoeuvring  on  the 
part  of  General  Grant's  forces,  which  led  to  this 
result.  The  Rebels  had  fallen  back  to  Grenada, 
and  Northern  Mississippi  appeared  to  be  almost 
entirely  under  control  of  our  forces.  Grant  moved 
forward  on  the  Rebel  lines  at  Grenada,  and  was 
preparing  for  a  final  assault  upon  Pemberton,  when 
an  unexpected  disaster,  due  to  the  treason  or  cow 
ardice  of  a  subordinate,  destroyed  all  his  plans, 
uncovered  his  rear  to  the  enemy  and  threatened  to 
destroy  his  communications.  It  came  about  in  the 
following  manner: 

Hovey,  after  the  retreat  of  the  rebels,  had  been 
ordered  to  return  to  Helena,  and,  when  Van  Dorn, 
who  commanded  a  division  of  Pemberton's  army, 
was  aware  of  this  fact,  he  resolved  upon  a  bold  ex 
pedition  in  rear  of  Grant's  forces,  with  the  intention 
of  capturing  the  posts  of  Columbus,  Trenton,  Jack 
son,  Bolivar,  Corinth,  Holly  Springs  and  other 
places  of  lesser  importance,  and,  by  this  means,  com 
pelling  Grant,  in  order  to  save  his  line  of  communica 
tion  with  the  North,  to  fall  back  and  so  relieve  Pem 
berton,  whose  front  and  flanks  were  being  roughly 
assailed  by  the  indefatigable  captor  of  Fort  Donelson, 


156  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Van  Dorn  lost  no  time  in  putting  his  plan  into 
execution.  He  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  Cold 
Water,  Davis's  Mills  and  Middlesburg,  but  was 
bloodily  repulsed  in  each  endeavor.  Unfortu 
nately  the  strong  and  important  post  of  Holly 
Springs,  which  contained  many  valuable  stores, 
and  which  was  garrisoned  by  the  Eighth  Wiscon 
sin  infantry,  was  under  the  command  of  a  man 
who  was  utterly  inadequate  to  the  task  before  him 
Van  Dorn  surrounded  the  place  on  the  2oth 
of  December,  and  at  once  moved  to  an  assault 
upon  it.  Murphy,  the  commander,  deeming  his 
regiment  too  weak  to  resist  the  shock,  despite 
the  protestations  of  his  officers  and  men,  disgrace 
fully  surrendered  the  place,  almost  without  firing 
a  shot. 

Grant  was  then  at  Oxford,  Miss.,  thirty  miles 
away,  and,  when  this  disastrous  news  reached  him, 
fearing  a  movement  of  the  enemy  in  his  rear,  he 
fell  back  to  Holly  Springs,  which  Van  Dorn  had 
evacuated,  after  burning  or  carrying  off  everything 
of  value. 

Grant  immediately  issued  a  ringing  order,  in 
which  he  denounced  the  surrender  of  the  place,  and 
refused  to  accede  to  terms  of  parole  agreed  upon 
between  the  inefficient  commander  and  the  rebel 
general,  unless  some  modifications  were  made  by 
the  latter.  He  also  congratulated  the  garrisons 
that  held  out,  most  warmly.  The  wretched  Colonel 
was  dismissed  in  disgrace  from  the  service  of  the 
United  States. 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  159 

SHERMAN'S  UNSUCCESSFUL  ENDEAVOR. 

Prior  to  the  mishap  at  Holly  Springs,  the  first 
act  in  the  drama  having  been  successfully  performed, 
Grant  proposed  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  to  hold 
Pemberton  beyond  the  Yalebooka  river,  while  forces 
from  Helena  and  Memphis  were  moved  on  Vicks- 
burg.  Halleck  acceeded  to  this  proposal,  and,  on 
the  8th  of  December,  General  Sherman,  who  com 
manded  the  right  wing  of  the  army,  and  who  had 
formed  a  junction  with  Grant,  near  Waterford, 
Miss.,  on  December  i,  received  the  following  order: 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE,  ) 
OXFORD,  Miss.,  Dec.  8,  1862.      j" 
MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Commanding  Right  Wing : 

GENERAL — You  will  proceed  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  to  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  taking  with  you  one  division  of  your  present  command.  On  your  ar 
rival  at  Memphis,  you  will  assume  command  of  all  the  troops  there,  and  that 
portion  of  General  Curtis's  force  at  present  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
organize  them  into  brigades  and  divisions  in  your  own  way.  As  soon  as 
possible,  move  with  them  down  the  river,  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg ;  and, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  gunboat  fleet  under  command  of  Flag-Officer 
Porter,  proceed  to  the  reduction  of  that  place,  in  such  manner  as  circum 
stances  and  your  own  judgment  may  dictate. 

The  amount  of  rations,  forage,  land  transportation,  etc.,  necessary  to  take 
will  be  left  entirely  with  yourself.  The  quartermaster  at  St.  Louis  will  be 
instructed  to  send  you  transportation  for  thirty  thousand  men.  Should  you 
still  find  yourself  deficient,  your  quartermaster  will  be  authorized  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  from  such  transports  as  may  come  into  the  port  of  Memphis. 

On  arriving  in  Memphis,  put  yourself  in  communication  with  Admiral 
Porter,  and  arrange  with  him  for  his  co-operation. 

Inform  me  at  the  earliest  practicable  day  of  the  time  when  you  will  embark, 
and  such  plans  as  may  then  be  matured.  I  will  hold  the  forces  here  in  readi 
ness  to  co-operate  with  you  in  such  manner  as  the  movements  of  the  enemy 
may  make  necessary. 

Leave  the  district  of  Memphis  in  the  command  of  an  efficient  officer,  and 
with  a  garrison  of  four  regiments  of  infantry,  the  siege-guns,  and  whatever 
cavalry  may  be  there. 

(Signed)  U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General. 

10 


l6o  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

In  pursuance  of  this  order,  General  Sherman 
prepared,  in  concert  with  Admiral  Porter,  the  first 
expedition  against  Vicksburg.  On  the  day  after  the 
surrender  of  Holly  Springs,  (December  21  st,  of 
which  unfortunate  event  he  was  in  total  ignorance), 
this  gallant  officer  embarked  his  expeditionary  force 
at  Memphis  and  Helena.  He  had  with  him  four 
splendid  divisions  of  infantry,  with  artillery  and  a 
small  force  of  cavalry.  On  the  27th  the  main  body 
of  his  forces  debarked  at  Johnston's  Landing,  on  the 
Yazoo  river,  about  eight  miles  north  of  Vicksburg. 
The  result  of  the  assault  on  the  Rebel  positions 
along  Haines's  Bluff,  is  well  known.  Unsupported 
from  the  interior  by  Grant,  who  had  been  com 
pelled  by  the  Holly  Springs  disaster  to  fall  back, 
as  before  stated,  Sherman  did  all  that  man  could 
do,  and  failed,  but  not  ingloriously.  He  buried  his 
dead,  picked  up  his  wounded  and  re-embarked  his 
troops,  to  rejoin  Grant,  whose  vexation  was  great, 
but  whose  gallant  spirit  was  in  no  wise  damped  by 
disappointment. 


CHAPTER   X. 
GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Re-organization  of  the  Army — The  Slaves  Emancipated — The  Second  Cam 
paign  against  Vicksburg — Difficulties  by  Water — Porter  Runs  the  Gaunt 
let  with  his  Gunboats — Attack  on  Grand  Gulf — Battle  of  Port  Gibson — 
Vicksburg  Described— Feints— The  Battles  of  Champion  Hills— The 
Town  Invested— The  Grand  Assault— The  Outer  Works  Carried— The 
Rebel  Commander  Capitulates — "  Unconditional  Surrender  "  Again — 
Vicksburg  and  its  Spoils — Port  Hudson  Too — The  Victor's  Crown. 

FORMATION    OF    CORPS    D'ARMEE. 

Notwithstanding  the  results  of  these  attempts 
to  reduce  the  Rebel  stronghold  of  the  Southwest, 
the  Government  at  Washington  had  learned  to 
confide  in  General  Grant,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
re-inforced  him  heavily.  The  army  was  immedi 
ately  divided  into  distinct  corps,  on  the  Napoleonic 
plan,  which  is  so  admirably  adapted  to  prevent  con 
fusion  and  develop  the  military  talent  of  subordi 
nate  commanders.  Numerous  divisions  were  not 
suited  to  the  measures  which  the  war,  then  assum 
ing  gigantic  proportions,  called  for. 

Accordingly,  on  December  22d,  1863,  orders 
were  issued  from  headquarters,  dividing  the  troops 
in  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi  into  four 
corps  (T  armee.  The  divisions  of  G.  W.  Morgan 
and  A.  J.  Smith,  with  all  troops  operating  on  the 

(161) 


1 62  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

river,  below  Memphis,  except  those  included  in  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  comprised  the  Thirteenth  Army 
Corps,  under  the  command  of  General  McClernand, 
Generals  M.  L.  Smith  and  F.  Steele's  divisions, 
with  the  forces  in  the  "District  of  Memphis,"  were 
formed  into  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  Major- 
General  W.  T.  Sherman  commanding.  The  divi 
sions  of  McArthur,  Quimby  and  Ross,  with  the  cav 
alry  of  Colonel  A.  L.  Lee,  and  the  commands  of 
Davies  and  Sullivan,  comprised  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps,  commanded  by  Major-General  Hurl- 
but.  The  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  was  made  up 
from  the  divisions  of  J.  W.  Denver,  John  A.  Logan, 
and  J.  G.  Lauman,  with  Grierson's  cavalry  and 
General  Dodge's  command  in  the  Corinth  district. 
Major-General  J.  B.  McPherson  commanded  this 
organization. 

Subsequently,  McArthur's  and  Ouinby's  divisions 
were  transferred  from  the  Sixteenth  to  the  Seven 
teenth,  and  those  of  Denver  and  Lauman  from  the 
Seventeenth  to  the  Sixteenth  Corps. 

NEGRO    EMANCIPATION. 

When,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  Abraham 
Lincoln  issued  that  proclamation  which  has  immor 
talized  his  name,  declaring  that  on  the  first  day  of 
the  new  year,  1863,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  with 
in  the  States  which  were  in  arms  against  the  Fed 
eral  Government  should  be  free,  General  Grant, 
like  a  good  soldier  and  faithful  citizen,  heartily 
seconded  the  Administration,  and  allowed,  wherever 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  163 

his  department  extended,  no  obstacle  to  be  thrown 
in  the  way  of  the  Administration  policy.  He  en 
couraged  the  organization  of  colored  troops,  and 
used  all  his  influence  to  subdue  the  senseless  pre 
judice  which  then  exsited  against  that  unhappy 
race. 

SECOND    MOVEMENT    ON    VICKSBURG. 

General  Grant  felt  much  chagrined  over  the  fail 
ure  of  the  first  movement  on  Vicksburg,  but,  daunt 
less  as  ever,  immediately  set  on  foot  plans  by  which 
the  next  attempt  might  be  rendered  brilliantly  suc 
cessful.  He  had  a  choice  of  five  routes  by  which 
to  move  on  the  Rebel  citadel  from  the  interior  and 
secure  a  base  of  operations.  The  first  of  these 
routes  was  the  Williams  Canal,  which  the  gallant 
general  of  that  name  cut  across  the  peninsula,  on  the 
Louisiana  side  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  preceding 
year.  This  canal  was  situated  six  miles  below  Vicks 
burg,  and,  could  it  be  made  available,  would  infi 
nitely  lighten  the  labor  of  capturing  the  coveted 
stronghold.  Work  was  recommenced  on  this  chan 
nel  on  the  2d  of  February,  1863,  and  was  contin 
ued  with  energy  until  the  8th  of  March,  when  the 
Mississippi  arose  in  its  wrath  and,  breaking  through 
the  mouth  of  the  "cut  off,"  overwhelmed  everything 
and  compelled  our  engineers  to  desist  from  that 
project. 

Of  course  the  Rebels  were  elated  at  our  misfor 
tune  ;  but  Grant,  although  annoyed,  was  not  dis 
heartened,  and  immediately  gave  orders  to  try  Mil- 


164  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

liken's  Bend,  where  large  bayous  run  from  that  point 
on  the  north  to  New  Carthage  on  the  south.  From 
the  latter  point  Roundabout  Bayou  ran  into  the 
Tensas  River.  This  place  was  worked  upon  for  a 
week,  but,  finding  it  impossible  to  effect  a  passage, 
Grant  ordered  the  digging  and  dredging  discon 
tinued. 

Lake  Providence,  situated  75  miles  from  Vicks- 
burg,  immediately  south  of  the  Arkansas  State 
line,  was  the  next  point  on  which  engineering  skill 
was  tried.  This  sheet  of  water  is  six  miles  long, 
two  miles  wide,  and  is  only  one  mile  west  of  the 
great  river.  A  water  channel,  called  Bayou  Baxter, 
connected  it  with  Bayou  Macon,  which  latter  is  con 
nected  with  the  Tensas  river,  which  communicates 
with  the  Washita  and  Red  rivers,  and  so  into  the 
Mississippi.  A  canal  was  cut  through  the  short 
strips  of  land,  already  referred  to,  but  without  ef 
fect.  The  project  was  soon  given  up. 

The  Yazoo  Pass,  eight  miles  below  Helena,  a 
very  winding  channel,  running  eastward  from  the 
Mississippi  into  Moon  Lake,  whence  by  a  tortuous 
course,  it  again  runs  eastward  until  it  empties  into 
the  Coldwater,  which  in  turn  empties  into  the  Tal- 
lahatchie  river,  was  next  attempted.  After  in 
credible  exertions  and  an  attempt  by  a  portion  of 
the  Thirteenth  and  Fifteenth  corps,  under  Gener 
als  McPherson,  Quinby  and  Ross,  to  storm  Fort 
Pemberton,  which  obstructed  navigation  at  the 
head  of  the  Pass,  this  project  had  to  be  abandoned 
on  the  23d  of  March. 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  165 

A  WAY  AT  LAST. 

After  vainly  attempting  to  utilize  States  Bayou, 
the  success  of  which  adventure  would  give  to  his 
army  all  the  base  of  operations  he  required,  Grant 
finally  determined  to  occupy  New  Carthage,  which 
was  accessible  by  land,  and  the  possession  of  which 
point  would  insure  the  safety  of  his  water  com 
munication.  McClernand's  corps — the  Thirteenth 
— was  moved  forward  on  March  29,  but  at  Smith's 
plantation,  two  miles  from  the  desired  position, 
McClernand,  to  his  intense  disgust,  found  that  the 
levee  at  Bayou  Vidal  had  burst,  and  that  New 
Carthage  was,  as  a  consequence,  surrounded  by  a 
deep  channel  of  water.  Grant,  however,  by  mar 
velous  exertions,  provided  a  way  out  of  the  diffi 
culty.  He  led  his  troops  around  the  bayou  and 
gained  what  he  had  toiled  for  so  long — a  base  of 
operations.  His  supplies  had  to  be  hauled  over 
execrable  roads,  thirty-five  miles,  all  the  way  from 
Milliken's  Bend.  No  such  feat  had  been  accom 
plished  in  warfare  since  the  days  of  Bonaparte. 

"  THE  ARMY  AND  NAVY  FOREVER." 

The  1 6th  of  April,  1863,  was  destined  to  be 
splendidly  signalized  by  one  of  the  most  superb 
naval  manceuvers  that  had  ever,  up  to  that  time, 
been  chronicled.  Grant,  by  his  untiring  zeal,  had 
provided  for  the  march  of  the  army  down  the 
western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  so  that  he  could 
get  south  of  Vicksburg,  the  only  point,  as  he  cor- 


1 66  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '/2. 

rectly  estimated,  from  which  that  fortress  could  be 
successfully  attacked.  The  great  problem  was, 
after  marching  the  army  down  the  river  to  a  suf 
ficient  distance,  how  to  procure  transportation  to 
the  eastern  bank,  and,  at  the  same  time,  protect 
the  landings. 

Acting  under  Grant's  instructions,  Admiral  Por 
ter,  on  April  16,  declared  himself  ready  to  run 
south  on  the  river,  past  the  batteries  of  Vicksburg ! 
He  had  seven  iron  clad  gunboats  and  one  of  the 
old  pattern.  He  also  had  three  transports,  laden 
with  supplies.  He  protected  the  bulwarks  of  his 
boats  by  piling  on  hay  and  cotton,  in  bales.  The 
Admiral  arranged  the  gun  boats  to  run  past  in 
single  file,  prepared  to  broadside  the  enemy's  bat 
teries  if  discovered.  The  transports  were  arranged 
on  the  starboard  side,  so  as  to  sneak  past  under 
cover. 

PORTER  RUNS  THE  GAUNTLET. 

It  was  within  an  hour  of  midnight  when  the  van 
guard  of  the  brave  flotilla  appeared  around  the 
bend.  Vicksburg,  to  all  appearance,  slept  upon  her 
arms,  and  the  entire  fleet  came  even  with  her  guns 
before  she  made  a  sign. 

Then,  when,  as  the  rebels  thought,  they  had  Por 
ter  fairly  within  their  power,  as  if  hell  itself  had 
opened,  the  batteries  of  the  fortress  belched  their 
fire  upon  the  daring  flotilla,  the  guns  from  which 
pealed  back  a  dauntless  answer.  The  spectacle 
was  sublime.  The  hills  along  the  left  bank  of  the 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  167 

river  gave  back  the  thunderous  echoes,  while  the 
dark  waters  reflected  the  cannons'  flash  and  the 
angry  glare  of  exploding  shells.  The  enemy  kept 
up  a  continuous  cannonade,  which  seemed  to  grow 
louder  every  second,  while  the  gunboats  of  Porter 
returned,  with  interest,  the  iron  hail  from  fort  and 
battery.  This  running  battle  lasted  two  hours  and 
a  half,  by  which  time  Porter,  with  most  of  his  fleet, 
was  safe  below.  The  transports  were  more  or  less 
damaged;  one  of  them,  the  Henry  Clay,  was  burned  to 
the  water's  edge.  This  was  the  only  serious  loss  sus 
tained  in  prosecuting  this  glorious  adventure,  upon 
the  success  of  which  so  many  vital  issues  depended. 
On  the  22d  of  the  same  month,  Gen.  Grant,  in 
spired  by  the  brilliant  success  of  the  first  expedi 
tion,  ordered  six  other  transports,  having  in  tow 
twelve  barges  laden  with  forages,  to  be  run  past. 
The  experiment  was  tried  and  resulted  very  en 
couragingly.  One  transport  only,  the  Tigress, 
was  sunk  by  the  fire  from  Vicksburg,  while  five 
boats  were  damaged.  The  greater  portion  of  the 
stores  and  forage  were  safely  carried  through. 
Volunteers  bravely  manned  the  transports  in  each 
expedition.  Grant,  in  his  official  report,  refers  in 
complimentary  terms  to  these  men,  and  calls  atten 
tion  to  the  gratifying  fact  that  skilled  mechanics, 
of  all  branches,  could  be  procured  from  the  armies, 
whenever  their  services  were  needed. 

THE  ATTACK  ON  GRAND  GULF. 

The   General,  having   seen  the  passage  of  the 


1 68  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

fleet  safely  accomplished,  moved  his  army,  by  a  cir 
cuitous  road,  down  the  Louisiana  shore,  to  Hard 
Times.  This  place  is  just  above  Grand  Gulf,  and 
its  distance  from  Milliken's  Bend,  is  at  least  seventy 
miles.  Grant  had  with  him  here,  on  April  29,  the 
1 3th  corps,  under  McClernand,  and  the  i;th  corps, 
under  McPherson.  The  enemy's  fortifications  were 
very  strong  at  Grand  Gulf,  and  Porter,  with  his 
gunboats,  was  called  upon  to  assist  in  reducing  the 
place.  When  the  fleet  had  silenced  the  enemy's 
batteries,  it  was  calculated  that  McClernand's  corps, 
which  had  been  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  could  carry  the  forts  by  assault. 

Porter  proceeded  to  attack  the  forts  in  a  most 
gallant  manner.  He  advanced  his  boats  to  with 
in  hailing  distance  of  the  batteries,  and  gradu 
ally  narrowed  the  space.  Then  opened  an  infernal 
fire  from  both  sides.  Our  sailors  exhibited  superb 
courage,  and  the  Rebels  kept  up  a  tremendous  can 
nonade.  After  this  practice  had  lasted  some  hours, 
it  was  found  impossible  to  reduce  the  place  by  bom 
bardment  or  storm  just  then,  and  the  affair  ended 
in  a  drawn  battle.  Grant,  from  a  tug-boat  in  the 
river,  witnessed  the  engagement. 

THE    CROSSING    AT    BRUINSBURG. 

Next  morning  found  Grant  marching  down  the 
river  to  a  point  opposite  Bruinsburg,  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  side  of  the  river.  The  corps  of  McCler 
nand  had  been  already  recrossed  to  the  western 
bank.  The  gunboats  and  transports  ran  the  Rebel 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  169 

gauntlet  at  Grand  Gulf,  and  were  ready  to  co-oper 
ate.  With  extraordinary  celerity,  McClernand's 
corps  was  again  flung  across  the  river  and,  not 
waiting  for  a  moment's  refreshment,  these  gallant 
troops  immediately  commenced  their  march  and 
occupied  the  highlands  above  Bruinsburg,  without 
any  show  of  resistance.  McPherson's  corps  fol 
lowed,  Grant  crossing  with  them.  The  troops  were 
in  high  spirits,  and  glad  to  be  once  more  about  to 
face  the  enemy,  whom  fortune  had  so  long  protec 
ted.  That  same  night  the  Rebels  were  encoun 
tered  in  force  about  seven  miles  northeast  of  Bru 
insburg,  and,  after  some  hot  fighting,  were  compelled 
to  retire. 

Next  morning,  May  ist,  General  Bowen's  Rebel 
division  was  encountered  by  our  advance,  strongly 
posted  at  a  place  called  Port  Gibson.  This  led  to 
a  serious  battle. 

GRAND    GULF    OCCUPIED. 

The  enemy  were  posted  on  two  roads,  which 
branched  on  ridges  right  and  left  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  protect  Grand  Gulf.  The  Rebels  made  a 
determined  opposition,  fighting  vehemently  for 
several  hours,  until,  at  length,  General  Grant  had 
to  send  portions  of  McPherson's  corps  to  reinforce 
McClernand,  who  had  stood  the  brunt  of  the  en 
gagement.  The  fighting  continued  until  night, 
when  the  enemy  retreated,  thoroughly  whipped, 
beyond  Bayou  Pierre,  having  first  taken  care  to 
blow  up  all  the  bridges,  and  doing  much  damage 


I7O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    'j2. 

in  the  line  of  our  advance.  McPherson,  by  morn 
ing,  had  constructed  a  floating  bridge  across  the 
bayou,  and  his  corps  followed  the  Rebels  on  the 
road  to  Harkinson's  Ferry.  Grand  Gulf  was  im 
mediately  evacuated,  being  badly  fortified  on  the 
land  side.  The  enemy  left  fifteen  heavy  guns 
behind  them.  The  capture  of  this  place,  so  strong 
from  the  river  side,  gave  great  joy  to  our  soldiers, 
and  was  a  brilliant  earnest  of  what  was  to  follow. 

THE    KEY    OF    THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

The  great  Rebel  stronghold  of  Vicksburg  has 
been  so  frequently  described  that  its  extent  and 
importance  must  be  fully  known  to  every  Ameri 
can  citizen  who  has  "kept  track"  of  our  tremendous 
civil  war.  Still,  to  keep  the  thread  of  this  story,  a 
slight  description  of  the  Southern  Sebastapol  may 
not  be  out  of  order. 

The  city  stands  on  an  extensive  bluff,  situated 
above  one  of  the  sharpest  curves  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  River,  which,  at  that  time,  its  guns  com 
pletely  commanded,  barring  that  great  water  tho 
roughfare  to  our  arms.  The  line  of  bluffs  ex 
tend  from  Yazoo  River  on  the  north  to  Warren- 
ton  on  the  south,  a  distance  of  some  fifteen  miles. 
These  bluffs,  with  the  Yazoo  and  Mississippi 
river-fronts,  formed  an  almost  impregnable  line 
of  defense  on  its  northern  approaches.  Bayous, 
swamps,  ravines,  and  other  natural  obstacles,  ad 
ded  to  the  immense  strength  of  the  position.  It 
was  the  Southern  Sebastapol,  and  required  an 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  171 

American  Pelissier  to  conquer  its  stubborn  resist 
ance. 

In  1863,  the  land  side  of  the  great  fortress  was 
equally  formidable,  and  General  Grant  at  once  rec 
ognized  the  necessity  of  fighting  several  battles  with 
the  outlying  forces  of  Pemberton  before  the  thor 
ough  investment  of  the  place  could  be  accomplished. 

CO-OPERATING    MOVEMENTS. 

Simultaneously  with  Grant's  movement  by  way 
of  Bruinsburg,  Sherman  made  his  celebrated  feint 
movement  by  way  of  Haines's  Bluff,  thus  dividing 
the  rebel  corps  so  much  that  they  were  unable  to 
support  each  other  with  alacrity  in  the  movements 
which  followed.  This  demonstration  of  Sherman's 
was  only  the  precursor  of  several  others  of  a  simi 
lar  nature,  all  along  the  rebel  line,  so  that  poor 
Pemberton  was  utterly  confounded  and  unable  to 
pierce  the  real  design  of  his  opponent. 

The  Federal  corps  were  moved  on  the  Na 
poleonic  principle,  that  is,  never  so  separated  that 
combination  at  a  critical  time  would  be  rendered 
difficult.  Grant,  with  his  searching  gaze,  followed 
every  move,  and  knew  precisely  where  each  di 
vision  was  before  the  grand  movement  began. 

THE    BATTLES    AROUND    VICKSBURG. 

On  May  13,  McPherson  attacked  the  rebel 
General  Gregg  at  Raymond,  and  gained  a  complete 
victory.  Sherman  immediately  joined  the  victorious 
general,  and  both  pushed  on  to  Jackson,  upon 


172  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

which  point  the  enemy  had  retreated  and  were  con 
centrating  reinforcements.  McClernand  was  held 
in  reserve  at  Raymond.  On  the  i4th,  Sherman 
and  McPherson  came  up  with  the  rebel  out-posts 
near  Jackson,  where  they  learned  that  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  was  in  command. 

The  action  was  short,  sharp  and  bloody.    John 
ston  was  utterly  defeated,  narrowly  escaped  capture, 
and    retreated    in    great   disaster.      Grant,   accom 
panied  by  his  eldest  son,  then  a  mere  boy,  joined 
the  combined  corps  after  the  battle,  and  immedi 
ately  put  the  army  in    motion  toward  Champion 
Hills,  where  Pemberton  held  a  strong  position,  hav 
ing  most  of  his  forces  well   in   hand.     Sherman's 
corps  was  in  the  rear,  having  orders  to  destroy  all 
rebel  property,  of  a  public  character,  lying  in  the 
line  of  march.     McClernand  had  received  orders  to 
co-operate  in  the  movement   on   Champion    Hills, 
but  did   not  arrive  until  the  conflict  was  decided. 
One    of  his    divisions,    however,    under    General 
Hovey,  got  on  the  field  in  time,  and  materially  as 
sisted    Logan's     and    Ouinby's    divisions    of   Mc- 
Pherson's  corps  in  winning  the  battle.     Pemberton 
fought  obstinately,  and  his  men  showed  their  cus 
tomary  valor,  but  nothing  could  withstand  the  irrir 
petuous  courage  of  our  troops,  and  once  more  Pem 
berton  showed  a  light  pair  of  heels.     He  determined, 
however,  on  making  one  more  grand  effort  before 
retiring  within  the  main  fortifications  of  Vicksburg. 
Grant  directed  the  pursuit,  which  continued  until 
night-fall.     This  battle  was  fought  on   May  16. 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  173 

Next  evening  was  fought  the  battle  of  the  Big 
Black,  where  the  enemy  occupied  formidable  posi 
tions  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  but,  after  a  long 
resistance,  an  undirected  charge  of  Carr's  division 
of  McClernand's  corps  struck  them  with  panic,  and 
they  fled  in  tumultuous  disorder  toward  their  strong 
hold.  Pemberton  and  his  officers  did  all  that  men 
could  to  stay  the  tide  of  flight,  but  in  vain. 

INVESTMENT    OF    THE    REBEL    STRONGHOLD. 

Sherman,  having  learned  the  result  of  the  battles 
last  fought,  crossed  his  corps,  on  pontoons,  at 
Bridgeport  on  the  i8th,  took  possession  of  Walnut 
Hills  and  the  Yazoo  river,  driving  the  enemy  before 
him  within  sight  of  the  walls  of  Vicksburg. 

McPherson  crossed  on  floating  bridges  above  the 
Jackson  road,  and  McClernand,  by  the  same  means, 
below.  The  former  followed  Sherman,  and  the  lat 
ter,  marching  through  Mount  Albans,  occupied  the 
left  of  the  line,  on  the  south,  while  McPherson  and 
Sherman,  the  latter  occupying  the  right  of  the  line, 
completed  the  investment  on  the  north. 

This  series  of  manoeuvres,  directed  by  General 
Grant,  placed  the  Key  of  the  Mississippi  within 
his  grasp ;  and  never,  in  the  history  of  warfare,  had 
a  campaign  been  more  skillfully  planned  or  more 
brilliantly  executed. 

Admiral  Porter,  with  his  fleet,  having  learned  the 
position  of  affairs,  immediately  co-operated,  so  that 
Pemberton  was  effectually  cooped  up  by  land  and 
water. 


174  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

THE    ASSAULTS    OF    THE     I QTH    AND    2 1 ST    OF    MAY. 

Grant,  conceiving  that  the  enemy  were  in  a  very 
demoralized  condition  after  their  recent  defeats,  de 
termined  on  giving  them  no  rest,  especially  as  his 
army  was  eager  for  an  assault  on  Vicksburg,  and 
hated  the  prospect  of  a  long  siege,  with  all  its  at 
tendant  discomfort  and  drudgery.  The  brave  fel 
lows  preferred  to  risk  their  lives  in  a  bold  attempt 
rather  than  dig  trenches,  advance  parallels,  and  act 
rather  as  prisoners  than  warriors. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  iQth,  Sherman's  corps 
attacked  the  fortifications,  in  front  of  our  right,  with 
great  vigor.  The  rebels  made  a  gallant  stand,  and, 
at  nightfall,  our  soldiers  were  withdrawn  from  the 
attempt.  The  assault  was  renewed  along  the  whole 
line  on  the  2ist,  Porter's  fleet  pounding  the  rebel 
batteries  and  firing  shot  and  shell  into  their  citadel 
from  the  side  of  the  river.  Each  army  exhibited 
unsurpassed  valor.  McClernand  imagined  that  he 
had  captured  two  forts,  and  badgered  Grant  upon 
the  field  about  reinforcements  and  divisions  in  his 
favor.  The  General,  who  saw  the  position  better 
than  McClernand,  doubted  the  accuracy  of  his  state 
ment,  but  reinforced  him  with  Quinby's  division 
and  against  his  inclination,  ordered  Sherman  to 
make  another  assault.  The  result  was  a  repulse, 
andour  army,  when  night  came,  had  gained  nothing, 
but  mourned  the  loss  of  many  gallant  soldiers. 
McClernand,  imitating  the  egotism  of  Bernadotte 
on  an  occasion  almost  similar,  issued  a  compli- 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  175 

mentary  order  to  his  corps,  in  which  he  was  disre 
spectful  to  his  superior  officer.  Grant,  very  prop 
erly,  removed  the  gasconading  general  from  com 
mand,  and  transferred  the  command  of  his  corps  to 
General  Ord,  a  brave  and  modest  soldier. 

THE    REGULAR    SIEGE    COMMENCED. 

Our  losses  in  both  assaults  numbered  over  3,000 
in  killed  and  wounded.  Grant  immediately  made 
his  dispositions  for  a  regular  siege,  and  the  army, 
cured  of  its  ardor  for  assaulting  Vicksburg,  settled 
down  patiently  to  its  task  of  digging  trenches  and 
pelting  Pemberton  with  iron  hail  from  behind  them. 
Meanwhile,  re-inforcements  from  the  Ninth  and 
Sixteenth  corps,  under  Generals  Washburn  and 
Parke,  arrived  from  Memphis  and  St.  Louis. 

The  investment  now  commenced  in  earnest,  and 
Pemberton  found  himself  in  anything  but  an  envi 
able  position.  Sherman,  with  a  portion  of  his 
corps,  went  to  observe  General  Joseph  Johnston, 
who  was  reported  marching  to  raise  the  siege  ;  but 
Joseph,  whatever  might  have  been  his  original  in 
tention,  did  not  give  his  alert  enemy  a  chance  to 
overhaul  him.  He  let  Vicksburg  "severely  alone," 
until  it  was  too  late  to  save  it. 

FORT  HILL  CAPTURED  BY  STORMERS. 

By  June   25th,  a  mine,  which  had   been  pushed 
forward,  in  spite  of  amazing  obstacles,  was  exploded 
in  front  of  Fort  Hill,  and  our  forlorn  hope,  consist 
ing  of   detachments  from  the  Forty-fifth  Illinois 
ii 


176  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

and  Twenty-third  Indiana,  supported  by  Leggett's 
brigade,  rushed  in  with  a  terrific  shout  and  pos 
sessed  themselves  of  that  important  outwork. 
Grant,  in  support  of  the  stormers,  ordered  a  can 
nonade  along  the  whole  line  and  from  the  fleet.  It 
seemed  as  though  the  earth  was  being  rent.  The 
astonished  Rebels  paused  for  a  moment  and  then 
commenced  a  deadly  struggle  with  the  gallant  men 
who  had  planted  the  "Stars  and  Stripes"  above  the 
ramparts  of  Vicksburg.  The  effort  proved  vain,  for 
McPherson  supported  Leggett,  and  Fort  Hill  re 
mained  in  the  possession  of  Grant's  forces. 

Another  mine,  of  even  greater  proportions,  had 
been  constructed  in  the  meantime,  and  on  July  ist 
it  was  exploded,  causing  the  demolition  of  a  re 
dan,  and  killing  a  number  of  Rebels  who  were 
manning  the  ramparts  or  engaged  in  counter 
mining. 

PEMBERTON    PARLEYS. 

This  last  success,  in  addition  to  the  terrific  bom 
bardment  constantly  kept  up  from  all  sides  by  our 
army,  caused  consternation  in  Vicksburg.  Provis 
ions  were  giving  out,  and,  in  a  word,  Pemberton's 
position  was  desperate.  In  his  despair,  he  blamed 
Johnston  for  not  supporting  him,  and  vowed  never 
to  surrender  Vicksburg  while  a  pound  of  beef,  or 
other  food,  remained,  or  while  a  man  was  left  ta 
defend  the  walls.  This  was  on  the  26.  of  July. 
Grant,  having  occupied  the  portion  of  the  enemy's 
works  uncovered  by  the  mine,  prepared  for  the 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  179 

grand  assault.  On  the  morning  of  the  3d,  at  8 
o'clock,  a  flag  of  truce  was  displayed  by  the  enemy, 
in  front  of  A.  J.  Smith's  position.  Half  an  hour 
later,  General  Bowen  and  another  officer  of  the 
Rebel  army  placed  in  Grant's  hands  a  proposition 
from  Pemberton  to  surrender  Vicksburg!  The 
Rebel  general  wished  for  the  appointment  of  com 
missioners  for  the  purpose  of  treating,  but  Grant 
utterly  refused  to  comply  with  his  request.  He 
agreed,  however,  to  meet  Pemberton  on  neutral 
ground,  that  afternoon,  and  arrange  terms. 

At  this  famous  interview  Grant  was  attended  by 
Gens.  McPherson  and  A.  J.  Smith.  Pemberton 
was  accompanied  by  Gen.  Bowen  and  Col.  Mont 
gomery.  The  rebel  asked  what  terms  Grant  could 
give.  The  Union  General  at  once  replied — "UN 
CONDITIONAL  SURRENDER!" 

Pemberton  expostulated  and  even  threatened  to 
renew  his  defence.  Grant  was  quite  collected,  and 
told  him  to  follow  his  own  counsel,  but  warned  him 
that  the  siege  would  be  pressed  with  merciless 
vigor.  Finally  the  two  Generals  walked  apart, and, 
after  a  short  consultation,  Pemberton  agreed  to  lay 
the  matter  before  a  counsel  of  war  and  send  his 
answer  next  noon. 

VICKSBURG  CAPITULATES. 

After  consultation  with  his  corps  commanders, 
Grant  submitted  to  Pemberton,  in  writing,  the 
terms  of  surrender,  which  were,  as  is  well  known, 
courteous  and  liberal  in  the  extreme.  The  Gene- 


l8o  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

ral,  however,  utterly  refused  to  make  any  stipu 
lation  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  citizens  or 
their  private  property.  Pemberton  endeavored  to 
procure  some  modifications,  but  Grant  was  obstin 
ate,  and  on  the  following  morning,  July  4,  1863, 
Pemberton  surrendered  Vicksburg  and  the  army 
which  had  defended  it,  with  all  the  arms,  stores,  etc., 
which  it  contained. 

The  rebels,  who  stacked  their  arms  under  the  eye 
of  McPherson's  corps,  numbered  31,600  men.  No 
less  than  1 72  guns  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victor. 
McPherson's  men  immediately  occupied  the  evacu 
ated  works,  and  in  the  afternoon  Grant  made  his 
triumphal  entry.  The  rebels  received  him  sullenly, 
and  well  they  might.  Since  the  investment  had 
commenced,  37,000  prisoners,  including  19  generals 
and  about  4,000  officers  of  lower  grades  had  been 
taken.  In  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  the  enemy, 
since  the  campaign  opened,  had  lost  12,000  men, 
with  300  pieces  of  cannon  and  an  immense  amount 
of  public  property,  including  railroads,  steamboats, 
locomotives,  and  other  matters  of  great  value. 

At  last — (since  Fort  Sumpter  was  fired  upon  it 
could  not  be  said) — the  Mississippi,  to  use  the  ex 
pression  of  Lincoln,  flowed  "  unvexed  to  the  sea," 
and  the  rebel  territory  was  rent  in  twain.  The  news 
of  Vicksburg,  with  that  of  Gettysburg,  crowded  the 
wires,  and,  on  that  auspicious  Fourth  of  July, 
"  Grant  and  Meade"  were  the  names  that  swelled 
upon  the  breeze  far  and  wide  throughout  the  loyal 
States. 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  181 

THE  VICTOR'S  CROWN. 

The  meed  of  victory  soon  reached  the  victor. 
The  cool  and  veteran  Halleck  compared  Grant's 
exploit  with  Napoleon's  at  Ulm  and  Ratisbon.  The 
generous  and  genial  Lincoln  wrote  him  the  follow 
ing  letter,  so  worthy  of  his  great  mind  and  noble 
heart : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  July  13,  1863. 
To  MAJOR-GENERAL  GRANT: 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL — I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I  ever  met  person 
ally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  for  the  almost  inesti 
mable  service  you  have  done  the  country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  When 
you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I  thought  you  should  do  what  you 
finally  did — march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  trans 
ports,  and  thus  go  below  ;  and  I  never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope 
that  you  knew  better  than  I,  that  the  \  azoo  Pass  expedition  and  the  like  could 
succeed.  When  you  got  below  and  took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicin 
ity,  I  thought  you  should  go  down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks  ;  and 
when  you  turned  northward  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake. 
I  now  wish  to  make  a  personal  acknowledgment  that  you  were  right  and  I  was 
wrong. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  Southern  press,  when  commenting  on  the 
surrender,  spoke  respectfully  of  Gen.  Grant  and 
even  allowed  that  his  terms  to  Pemberton  were 
generous,  considering  how  completely  that  unfor 
tunate  general  was  in  his  power. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  ENDED. 

On  the  Qth  of  July,  the  rebel  General  Gardner 
surrendered  the  important  fortress  of  Port  Hudson 
to  Gen.  Banks,  having  first  learned  that  Vicksburg 
had  fallen. 

Sherman  followed  Johnston,  who,  when  too  late, 


1 82  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    rj2. 

had  approached  toward  Vicksburg  and  was  manceuv- 
ering  in  the  vicinity  of  Jackson.  The  rebel  issued  a 
boastful  order  to  his  troops  on  July  9  and  awaited 
Sherman's  attack.  On  the  i3th  the  rebels  made 
a  desperate  sortie  from  Jackson  and  were  repulsed. 
Sherman  then  prepared  for  a  general  assault — but 
his  opponent  did  not  await  the  result.  Johnston 
evacuated  his  works  on  the  night  of  the  1 7th,  and 
next  day  Sherman  entered  them  in  triumph. 

This  virtually  ended  the  campaign,  and  Grant 
was  promptly  rewarded  by  being  appointed  a 
Major-General  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United 
States,  his  commission  dating  from  July  4th,  1863. 
The  officers  of  his  command  presented  the  success 
ful  commander  with  a  magnificent  sword.  After 
ward  an  obelisk  was  erected  on  the  spot,  outside  of 
Vicksburg,  where  the  interview  between  Grant  and 
Pemberton  took  place. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Grant  Busies  Himself  with  Administration — Is  Promoted  to  the  Command 
of  Four  Armies — Prepares  to  Attack  Bragg  at  Lookout  Mountain — Plan 
of  the  Battle — A  Dashing  Assault — Grant  "Refuses  to  be  Embarrassed" — 
The  Battle  Above  the  Clouds— A  Mighty  Charge— Phil.  Sheridan  Distin 
guishes  Himself— Victory — Its  Trophies — Gratitude  of  the  Nation. 

GRANT    AS  AN  ADMINISTRATOR. 

The  few  succeeding  summer  months  were  occu 
pied  by  General  Grant  in  managing  the  general 
executive  business  of  his  department,  checking 
smugglers,  baffling  traitors  and  punishing  extor 
tionists.  He  gave  no  countenance  to  stragglers, 
and  put  the  contraband  Negroes  to  good  use  in  the 
colored  regiments,  or  else  in  constructing  camps, 
driving  train  wagons,  repairing  railroads,  etc.  His 
administration  of  public  affairs  was  highly  suc 
cessful  throughout  the  region  over  which  he  had 
authority.  He  compelled  unprincipled  captains  of 
Mississippi  steamboats  to  disgorge  money  fraudu 
lently  obtained  from  officers  and  enlisted  men,  who 
were  compelled  to  voyage  by  the  river.  Never 
was  such  strict  discipline  and  thorough  honesty 
enforced  in  that  State  or  in  Tennessee.  He  made 
a  tour  of  observation  in  August,  and  received  an 
enthusiastic  ovation  from  the  loyal  portion  of  the 

(183) 


184  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

citizens  of  Memphis.  He  thanked  them  in  a  mod 
est,  manly,  patriotic  letter,  in  which  he  bore  noble 
testimony  to  the  courage  and  endurance  of  the 
brave  troops  who  had  followed  his  fortunes. 

He  returned  to  Vicksburg  and  went  to  Natchez 
and  from  thence  to  New  Orleans.  He  arrived  in 
the  Crescent  City  on  September  2d,  and  on  the  3d, 
the  trade  of  the  Southwestern  metropolis  was  de 
clared  free ;  that  is,  with  the  ports  of  the  North 
west.  Military  restriction  on  commerce  was  re 
moved,  and  everything  wore  an  aspect  of  returning 
peace  and  prosperity. 

AN    UNLUCKY    ACCIDENT. 

On  September  4th,  General  Grant  reviewed  the 
Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  in  company  with  General 
Banks,  who  commanded  the  department.  During 
the  review  the  strange  horse  which  General  Grant 
rode  stumbled  and  threw  him  heavily,  injuring  him 
so  severely  that  it  was  feared  his  future  active  ser 
vice  in  the  field  was  somewhat  doubtful.  The  Gov 
ernment  had  intended  to  place  him  in  command  of 
the  troops  marching  on  Georgia,  and  his  accident 
caused  Lincoln  and  the  country  at  large  great 
anxiety.  His  case,  fortunately,  did  not  prove  so 
serious  as  was  first  anticipated,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
he  was  again  fit  for  duty. 

GRANT    PLACED   IN    COMMAND    OF    FOUR    ARMIES. 

Then  he  went  up  the  Mississippi  to  Cairo,  hav 
ing  stopped  at  Vicksburg  and  other  points,  to 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  185 

arrange  the  route  of  the  troops  who  were  to  form 
part  of  the  corps  then  concentrating  in  and  around 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.  He  made  provisions  for  a 
medal  commemorative  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,and 
then  proceeded  to  Indianapolis,  where  the  following 
communication  from  the  War  Office  was  handed 
him : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 
WASHINGTON,  October  i6th,  1863. 

By  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Departments  of  the 
Ohio,  of  the  Cumberland,  and  of  the  Tennessee,  will  constitute  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi.  Major-General  U.  S.  Grant,  United  States 
Army,  is  placed  in  command  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi, 
with  his  headquarters  in  the  field. 

Major-General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  United  States  volunteers,  is  relieved  from 
the  commaud  of  the  Department  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.     Major- 
General  G.  H.  Thomas  is  hereby  assigned  to  that  command. 
By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  A.  A.  G. 

On  the  1 8th,  Grant  issued  his  general  order,  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  assuming  the  above  command, 
and  announcing  that  the  headquarters  of  the 
Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi  would  be  in 
the  field. 

HE    ORGANIZES  THE    GRAND    ARMY. 

The  States  of  Michigan,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Northern  Ala 
bama,  and  Northwestern  Georgia  were  included 
within  the  limits  of  the  new  department.  He  had 
under  his  command  four  fine  armies — "  The  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  (conquerors  of  Vicksburg)  "  The 
Army  of  the  .Cumberland,"  "  The  Army  of  the 
Ohio,"  and  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  corps  de- 


1 86  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

tached,  under  Hooker,  from  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac.  These  last  named  troops  were  afterward  con 
solidated  into  the  splendid  Twentieth  corps. 

The  corps  of  this  magnificent  command  were  of 
ficered  by  the  following  able  generals:  Fourth 
Army  Corps,  General  Gordon  Granger;  Ninth, 
General  Porter;  Eleventh,  General  O.  O.  Howard; 
Twelfth,  General  Slocum ;  Fourteenth,  General  J. 
M.  Palmer;  Fifteenth,  General  John  A.  Logan; 
Sixteenth,  General  Hurlbut ;  Seventeenth,  Gen 
eral  McPherson,  and  Twenty-third,  General  Mun- 
son. 

This  was  the  largest  army  that  had  ever  been 
controlled  by  one  general  on  the  American  conti 
nent.  Those  who  were  jealous  of  Grant  predicted 
his  ruin.  Those  who  knew  him  best,  and  who  had 
fought  under  him,  were  enthusiastic  in  their  con 
gratulations  and  strong  in  hope.  With  his  usual 
sagacity,  Grant  had  placed  in  command  of  his  four 
armies  Sherman,  Thomas,  Hooker,  Burnside,  and, 
in  after  days,  Foster. 

BRAGG  BRACES  HIMSELF  FOR  BATTLE. 

General  Braxton  Bragg,  the  rebel  commander,  had 
gathered  a  force  equally  large  and  prepared  to  defend 
the  road  to  Georgia,  with  all  the  resources  at  his  com 
mand.  The  unfortunate  issue  of  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  fought  and  lost  by  Rosecrans,  had 
enabled  the  rebels  to  occupy  Lookout  Mountain  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  which  eminences  commanded  the 
route  to  Atlanta,  and  from  thence  to  the  sea. 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  187 

THE  SITUATION  AT  CHATTANOOGA. 

Thomas,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land,  occupied  Chattanooga,  and,  as  the  rebels 
threatened  to  make  an  attack  in  force  on  that  point 
before  Grant  could  arrive,  the  latter  telegraphed 
Thomas  to  hold  it  at  any  cost.  The  sturdy  old 
hero  promptly  replied  over  the  wires — "  I  will  hold 
the  town  till  we  starve !" 

This  expression  alluded  to  the  fact  that  his  men 
were  on  half  rations,  it  being  a  matter  of  much  risk 
and  difficulty  to  convey  supplies  over  a  wretched 
road  from  Stevenson,  in  Northern  Alabama,  to  the 
village  of  Chattanooga. 

GRANT'S  PLAN  OF  OPERATIONS. 

Grant  arrived  at  the  destined  point  on  October 
23,  and  found  that  Thomas  had  taken  very  skillful 
measures  to  defend  the  place.  Hooker  had  been 
concentrated  at  Bridgeport,  on  the  Tennessee  river, 
and  was  prepared  to  secure  the  river  and  main 
wagon  road  between  Brown's  Ferry,  just  below 
Lookout  Mountain,  and  the  headquarters  of  Hook 
er's  army.  Other  dispositions  for  defence  had  been 
made,  but  the  moment  Grant  arrived  everything 
was  put  in  working  order,  and,  after  a  careful  sur 
vey  of  the  enemy's  position,  he  resolved  to  assume 
the  offensive,  so  soon  as  all  his  force  arrived  on  the 
ground.  The  General  thus  briefly  explains  a  por 
tion  of  his  tactics  : 

"  The  next  morning  after  my  arrival  at  Chattanooga,  in  company  with 
Thomas  and  Brigadier-General  W.  F.  Smith,  Chief  Engineer,  I  made  a 


l88  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

reconnoissance  of  Brown's  Ferry,  and  the  hills  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river  and  at  the  mouth  of  Lookout  Valley.  After  the  reconnoissance,  the 
plan  agreed  upon  was  for  Hooker  to  cross  at  Bridgeport  to  the  south  side  of 
the  river  with  all  the  force  that  could  be  spared  from  the  railroad,  and  move 
on  the  main  wagon-road,  by  way  of  Whitesides  to  Wauhatchie,  in  Lookout 
Valley.  Major-General  J.  M.  Palmer  was  to  proceed  by  the  only  practicable 
route  north  of  the  river  from  his  position  opposite  Chattanooga  to  a  point  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Tennessee  river  and  opposite  Whitesides,  then  to  cross 
to  the  south  side,  to  hold  the  road  passed  over  by  Hooker.  In  the  ipeantime, 
and  before  the  enemy  could  be  apprised  of  our  intention,  a  force  under  the 
direction  of  Brigadier-General  W.  F.  Smith.  Chief  Engineer,  was  to  be 
thrown  across  the  river  at  or  near  Brown's  Ferry,  to  seize  the  range  of  hills 
at  the  mouth  of  Lookout  Valley,  covering  the  Brown's  Ferry  road,  and  orders 
were  given  accordingly." 

HAZEN'S  HAPPY  HAZARD 

Brigadier-General  Hazen,  a  dashing  voting  offi 
cer,  took  charge  of  Smith's  expedition,  and,  after  a 
series  of  brilliant  stratagems,  landed  the  1,800 
picked  men  composing  the  expeditionary  force  at 
two  points  on  the  enemy's  side  of  the  river,  cap 
tured  the  pickets  and  seized  the  spurs  of  the 
ridge  near  the  river.  Four  thousand  men  who 
had  marched  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Tennes 
see,  while  their  comrades,  floated  down  the  river  on 
pontoon  boats,  were  ferried  across  from  Brown's 
Ferry,  to  support  the  forlorn  hope,  and,  at  10  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  October  28th,  General  Smith 
had  laid  down  his  pontoon  bridge,  which  was  nine 
hundred  feet  long..  The  captured  points  were 
strongly  intrenched,  giving  full  play  to  our  artillery, 
and  compelling  the  enemy  between  Lookout  and 
Fhell  Mound  to  evacuate  their  positions. 

OTHER    MOVEMENTS. 

Hooker  advanced  that  same  day  and  occupied  a 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  189 

portion  of  Lookout  Valley.  Palmer,  according  to 
the  programme,  followed  in  his  rear,  protecting  the 
route  on  which  the  army  had  advanced. 

These  advantages  alarmed  Bragg.  They  also 
alarmed  Jeff  Davis,  and  that  worthy,  in  person, 
came  down  to  inspect  the  situation.  Our  army 
was  now  abundantly  supplied  with  provisions,  and 
felt  in  fighting  humor.  • 

Longstreet  made  a  night  attack  on  Geary's  divi 
sion  of  Hooker's  Corps,  but  Hazard  hurried  up  to 
his  comrade's  aid,  the  Rebel  attack  was  dashingly 
repulsed,  and  Hooker  followed  up  his  success  by 
seizing  all  the  hills  lying  west  of  Lookout  Creek. 

BRAGG    MAKES    A    BLUNDER. 

Prompted  by  his  bad  angel,  Bragg  imagined  that 
he  was  doing  a  brilliant  thing  when  he  detached 
Longstreet's  corps  to  attack  Burnside  at  Knoxville. 
He  hoped  by  this  movement  to  embarrass  Grant. 
That  general,  however,  refused  to  be  embarrassed. 
He  knew  that  Burnside  was  enough  for  Longstreet, 
and  he  also  knew  that  Sherman's  corps  (the  Fif 
teenth)  was  near  at  hand  to  re-inforce  his  own 
army.  Halleck  besought  Grant  to  re-inforce  Burn- 
side;  but  our  stubborn  hero  would  not  play  into 
the  enemy's  hand,  and  resolved  to  thrash  Braxton 
Bragg  and  his  army  without  loss  of  time.  He 
knew  that  to  defeat  Bragg's  army  would  be  to 
compel  Longstreet's  retreat  from  Knoxville.  So 
he  held  to  his  own  plans  and  refused  to  be  or 
dered  around  by  telegraph.  Burnside  lured 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Longstreet  on,  doing    just    what    Grant    required 
of  him. 

Sherman's  army  had  arrived  on  November  23d, 
and  having  marched  from  Bridgeport,  crossed  the 
river  at  Brown's  Ferry,  then  moved  cautiously  up 
the  north  bank  and  established  itself  at  an  impor 
tant  point  near  the  South  Chickamauga. 

THOMAS  ADVANCES. 

Bragg  having  given  indications  of  falling  back, 
Grant  determined  to  test  the  matter,  and  for  this 
purpose  ordered  Thomas  to  demonstrate  on  the 
enemy's  lines  in  front  of  his  position.  Thomas, 
beside  his  own  corps,  had  with  him  the  major  por 
tion  of  Howard's  command,  and  demonstrated  to 
such  effect  that  he  carried  Orchard  Knob  by  a  bril 
liant  charge  of  General  Wood's  division  of  How 
ard's  corps.  The  Rebels  did  not  expect  a  serious 
attack,  and  were  actually  taken  by  surprise.  The 
division  of  Buckner's  corps,  sent  to-re-inforce  Long- 
street's  attack  on  Burnside,  was  recalled,  and  Gen 
eral  Braxton  Bragg  prepared  to  meet  the  grand 
shock  which  he  now  saw  was  rapidly  approaching. 

SHERMAN  AND  HOOKER  MOVE. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  darkness,  in  the  early 
morning  of  November  24th,  Sherman's  army,  after 
a  series  of  movements,  crossed  the  Tennessee  and 
South  Chickamauga  rivers,  and,  early  in  the  fore 
noon,  had  taken  position  below  the  north  end  of 
Mission  Ridge.  The  position  was  well  fortified, 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER. 

and  formed  a  good  base  for  the  operations  which 
were  to  follow. 

Hooker  moved  on  the  same  day,  his  part  being 
to  capture  Lookout  Mountain,  cross  the  valley  of 
Chattanooga  to  Rossville,  and  then  co-operate  with 
Sherman's  attack  on  Mission  Ridge,  by  way  of 
Rossville  Gap.  The  enemy's  pickets  on  the  North 
ern  slope  of  Lookout  were  driven  higher  up  the 
mountain,  and  the  Tennessee  river  was  rendered 
safe  to  all  our  boats,  thus  effectually  destroying  the 
Rebel  blockade. 


"ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS." 


Hooker,  like  Thomas,  had  surprised  the  enemy, 
and  followed  up  his  success,  fighting  that  action 
which  is  known  in  American  history  as  "The  battle 
above  the  clouds."  The  spectacle  of  the  fight,  as 
seen  from  Chattanooga,  was  superb,  but  the  results 
were  more  superb  still,  for  the  enemy's  left  was 
turned,  and  Hooker,  leaving  a  force  to  hold  the 
mountain,  advanced  on  the  extreme  right  of  our 
line,  to  take  part  in  the  main  attack.  Thomas  oc 
cupied  the  centre,  at  Orchard  Knob,  and  Sherman 
held  our  left,  in  front  of  Tunnel  Hill. 

Grant,  during  the  prosecution  of  these  unrivaled 
plans,  was,  or  seemed  to  be,  everywhere  present. 
His  energy  was  untiring,  and  he  left  nothing  to 
subordinates  that  could  in  any  way  jeopardize  the 
safety  of  the  army. 

Wednesday,  November  25th,  ushered  in  the  final 
struggle,  on  which  the  fortunes  of  both  generals, 


I Q2  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

and,  in  great  measure,  of  both  causes,  were  staked. 
Grant  had  fairly  outwitted  his  opponent,  and  the 
latter  felt  it.  To  add  to  his  misfortunes,  Bragg 
permitted  himself  to  be  again  out-generalecl,  in  this 
way :  Sherman  made  the  attack  on  the  Rebel  posi 
tion,  in  front  of  Tunnel  Hill,  and  Bragg,  conceiv 
ing  that  that  was  to  be  the  main  point  of  attack, 
commenced  moving  brigades  and  regiments  from 
his  centre,  to  aid,  as  he  thought,  in  annihilating 
Sherman's  army.  Grant  allowed  the  Rebels  to 
proceed  with  their  tactical  mistake  until  it  was  too 
late  to  rectify  it. 

THE    GRAND    ATTACK. 

Grant  watched  for  the  advance  of  Hooker  on  the 
Rossville  road,  and  at  20  minutes  past  three  o'clock 
the  signal  informed  him  that  "  Fighting  Joe"  had 
fulfilled  his  part  of  the  contract,  and  was  in  line  on 
the  right  ready  to  fall  upon  the  foe.  He  had  been 
unavoidably  detained  by  a  broken  bridge  across 
Chattanooga  Creek,  but  he  made  up  for  this  late  in 
the  day. 

Scarcely  had  the  head  of  Hooker's  advance  ap 
peared,  when  the  signal  for  the  storming  of  Mis 
sion  Ridge,  being  six  guns  fired  at  intervals,  was 
given.  On  the  weakened  centre  and  disheartened 
left  of  Bragg's  army  the  soldiers  of  Thomas  and 
Hooker  were  hurled,  charging  right  up  the  slopes 
of  the  Ridge  in  defiance  of  the  deluge  of  fire  which 
the  enemy  rolled  down  upon  them.  Sherman,  on 
the  left,  renewed  his  attack  with  ten-fold  energy. 


GRANTS  MILITARY   CAREER,  193 

Consternation  seized  on  the  rebel  army.  Their 
general  proved  himself  a  brave  soldier,  if  not  a 
skillful  one,  and  his  exertions  to  restore  the  battle 
were  tremendous.  But  it  was  all  of  no  use.  With 
enthusiastic  shouts  our  soldiers  stormed  the  crest 
of  the  Ridge,  and  the  rebel  left  fled  in  panic  before 
Hooker's  assault.  Their  entire  line  soon  gave  way, 
and,  after  one  of  the  grandest  struggles  on  record, 
the  battle  of  Chattanooga  was  won.  Grant,  elated 
as  he  must  have  been  by  his  splendid  success,  re 
mained  calm  as  ever,  directing  the  pursuit  and  tak 
ing  measures  to  clear  off  the  wreck  of  the  battle 
fields. 

In  this  battle,  among  the  many  brave  and  noble 
men  who  distinguished  themselves  as  generals  was 
Phil.  H.  Sheridan,  who  commanded  a  division  of 
Granger's  corps.  He  had  a  horse  killed  under  him, 
but,  undaunted,  he  stepped  upon  a  gun  and  re- 
retained  his  position,  so  that  he  could  view  the 
fight,  until  the  battle  was  over.  He  made  a 
brief  but  stirring  address  to  his  division,  which 
cheered  every  heart,  and,  from  that  day,  Grant 
knew  that  he  had  found  his  thunderbolt — his  caval 
ry  leader. 

The  retreat  of  the  enemy  was  followed  by  Sheri 
dan's  division.  Bragg  left  6,000  prisoners  in  .our 
hands,  not  counting  stragglers ;  40  guns ;  7,500 
small  arms,  and  a  large  amount  of  ammunition. 
The  retreat  would  have  been  followed  up  more 
closely  had  it  not  been  that  Grant  feared  to  leave 
Burnside  isolated  in  Knoxville. 


12 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

Burnside  had  fought  gallantly,  in  retreat,  and  con 
fronted  his  enemy  with  confidence.  Sherman  and 
Granger  were  sent  to  reinforce  him.  Longstreet, 
learning  of  Bragg's  defeat,  assaulted  Knoxville 
desperately  on  November  28,  and  was  bloodily  re 
pulsed.  The  advance  of  the  supporting  Federal 
generals  compelled  the  rebels  to  raise  the  siege  and 
retreat  in  great  haste  to  a  safer  locality. 

END  OF  THE  CHATTANOOGA  CAMPAIGN. 

On  December  10,  1863,  General  Grant  issued  a 
congratulatory  order  to  his  army,  and  predicted  the 
speedy  downfall  of  the  so-called  Confederacy. 

With  this  campaign  the  active  military  campaign 
of  Braxton  Bragg  terminated.  His  after  efforts  in 
the  Rebel  cause  were  obscure  and  unchronicled. 

Meanwhile  the  thanks  of  the  Executive  and  of 
Congress  were  awarded  to  the  victor  of  Chat 
tanooga.  These  thanks  were  supplemented  by  a 
magnificent  gold  medal,  voted  by  Congress,  com 
memorative  of  General  Grant's  great  victories,  and 
symbolical  of  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  the 
American  people. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Created  Lieutenant  General — Goes  to  Washington  to  Receive  his  Commis 
sion — Two  Memorable  Speeches — Grant  Takes  Command — With  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac— In  the  Wilderness— How  he  Kept  Flanking  Lee— 
An  Alert  Enemy — The  Assault  Upon  Petersburg — A  Failure — The  Winter, 
and  How  it  Was  Passed— The  End  Near— Grant  Discovers  his  Antagon 
ist's  Purpose,  and  Thwarts  Him — Sheridan  "  Pushes  Things" — Lee  Sur 
rounded — He  Surrenders — Collapse  of  the  Confederacy. 

CREATED  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 

Such  had  been  the  signal  abilities  displayed  by 
General  Grant.  The  success  which  had  uniformly 
attended  his  campaigns,  and  the  confidence  and 
enthusiasm  which  his  name  everywhere  evoked, 
that  it  was  deemed  best  for  the  public  service  to 
place  him  in  the  general  command  of  all  our  armies. 
Accordingly  the  committee  on  Military  Affairs  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  reported  a  bill  to  re 
vive  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  General. 

The  fact  that  during  our  whole  previous  history 
only  two  soldiers  had  been  thus  honored,  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  confidence  which  this  new  rank 
implied.  Washington  and  Scott  were  his  glorious 
predecessors,  and  Gen.  Grant  was  fully  entitled  to 
wear  the  honors  a  grateful  country  had  tendered 
her  greatest  captains. 


196  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

The  bill  establishing  the  new  rank  was  as  fol 
lows: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  grade  of  lieutenant- 
general  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  revived  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States 
of  America ;  and  the  President  is  hereby  authorized,  whenever  he  shall  deem 
it  expedient,  to  appoint,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
a  commander  of  the  army,  to  be  selected  during  war,  from  among  those  of 
ficers  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  not  below  the  grade  of 
major-general,  most  distinguished  for  courage,  skill,  and  ability  ;  and  who, 
being  commissioned  as  lieutenant-general,  shall  be  authorized,  under  the 
direction  of  the  President,  to  command  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 

While  the  bill  was  under  discussion,  Mr.  Ross 
offered  an  amendment  recommending  General 
Grant  for  the  new  rank.  The  amendment  was 
adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1864,  General  Grant  was  confirmed  by  the 
Senate  as  Lieutenant-General,  giving  him  rank 
over  all  our  other  generals. 

GENERAL   GRANT   GOES   TO    WASHINGTON. 

He  was  immediately  notified,  and  late  in  the  after 
noon  of  Tuesday,  March  8th,  he  arrived  in  Wash 
ington,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  his  commis 
sion  and  instructions.  His  arrival  was  unheralded, 
and  he  took  his  seat  at  the  dinner-table  of  Willard's 
Hotel  unnoticed. 

Though  four  years  in  the  service,  and  the  most 
successful  and  popular  of  all  our  generals,  he  had 
been  so  little  in  Washington  that  he  was  known 
to  but  few.  It  happened,  however,  that  there  was 
seated  near  him  at  the  table  a  gentleman  who  had 
made  his  acquaintance  at  New  Orleans.  He  soon 
spread  the  information,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 


HoN.EuHuB. 


•g   g.  Minister  to 

'       ^v 


N, 


jiliyilH 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  199 

dining-room  was  ringing  with  cheers  for  the  hero  of 
Vicksburg.  General  Grant  modestly  acknowledged 
the  honor,  and  soon  withdrew. 

RECEIVES    HIS   COMMISSION. 

The  next  day  he  was  received  by  President  Lin 
coln  in  the  cabinet  chamber  and  presented  with  his 
commission.  In  doing  this,  President  Lincoln  said: 

"  General  Grant — The  Nation's  appreciation 
of  what  you  have  done,  and  its  reliance  upon  you 
for  what  remains  to  be  done  in  the  existing  great 
struggle,  are  now  presented  with  this  commis 
sion,  constituting  you  Lieutenant-General  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States.  With  this  high 
honor  devolves  upon  you  also  a  corresponding 
responsibility.  As  the  country  herein  trusts  you, 
so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you.  I  scarcely 
need  to  add,  that,  with  what  I  here  speak  for 
the  nation,  goes  my  own  hearty  personal  concur 
rence." 

To  this,  General  Grant  responded  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  President — I  accept  the  commission,  with 
gratitude  for  the  high  honor  conferred.  With  the 
aid  of  the  noble  armies  that  have  fought  on  so 
many  fields  for  our  common  country,  it  will  be  my 
earnest  endeavor  not  to  disappoint  your  expecta 
tions.  I  feel  the  full  weight  of  the  responsibilities 
now  devolving  on-me;  and  I  know  that  if  they  are 
met,  it  will  be  due  to  those  armies,  and,  above  all, 
to  the  favor  of  that  Providence  which  leads  both 
nations  and  men." 


2OO  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 


THE    DIFFICULTIES    OF    HIS    POSITION. 

The  position  to  which  General  Grant  was  thus 
called  was  one  of  grave  responsibility,  attended  by 
numerous  and  serious  embarrassments,  A  confid 
ing  nation  had,  as  it  were,  placed  its  destinies  in  his 
hands,  and  the  public  expectation  was  such  that 
only  great  achievements  would  satisfy  it.  The  en 
emy  was  brave,  active,  vigilant,  full  of  confidence 
in  its  own  power,  and  actuated  by  a  blind  faith  in 
its  commander.  Having  the  advantage  of  position, 
acting  on  the  offensive  or  defensive  with  equal  facil 
ity,  possessing  the  means  of  communication  which 
enabled  it  to  rapidly  shift  its  armies  from  one  ex 
posed  point  to  another,  it  was,  though  inferior  in 
numbers  in  the  aggregate,  able  to  meet  its  oppo 
nents  with  equal  forces  on  the  most  important  field 
of  operations. 

HIS    PLAN    FOR    THE    CAMPAIGN. 

Fully  conscious  of  these  points  of  advantage 
possessed  by  his  enemy,  General  Grant  immedi 
ately  formed  his  plans  for  meeting  them. 

First — To  counterpoise  the  Rebels'  interior  ad 
vantages  and  prevent  them  from  shifting  their  for 
ces  to  relieve  the  most  hard-pressed  points  in  their 
line  of  defense,  he  resolved  to  attack  their  whole  line 
simultaneously  at  all  points. 

Second — To  make  constant  and  unrelenting  war 
upon  his  main  enemy's  armies,  particularly  the  forces 
General  Lee  in  Virginia  and  of  General  Johnson  of 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  2OI 

in  Georgia,  believing,  and  that  correctly,  that  these 
once  destroyed  or  captured  it  would  be  impossible 
for  the  Confederacy  to  continue  further  armed  re 
sistance  to  the  Federal  forces. 

GENERAL  GRANT  GOES  TO  THE  FRONT. 

Havine  matured  the  details  of  these  plans,  Gen- 

o  •"• 

eral  Grant  hastened  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  which  it  was  decided  should  contest  with  Gen 
eral  Lee  the  issue  of  the  war. 

On  the  1 8th  of  March  he  issued  the  following 
order : 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

NASHVILLE,  Term.,  March  17,  1864. 
In  pursuance  of  the  following  order  of  the  President, 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  March  10,  1864. 
"Under  the  anthority  of  the  act  of  Congress  to  appoint  to  the  grade  of 
lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  of  March  I,   1864,  Lieutenant-General  Ulys 
ses  S.  Grant,  United  States  Army,  is  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

I  assume  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  Headquarters  will 
be  in  the  field,  and,  until  further  orders,  will  be  with  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac.  There  will  be  an  office  headquarters  in  Washington,  to  which  all  offi 
cial  communications  will  be  sent,  except  those  from  the  army  where  the  head 
quarters  are  at  the  date  of  their  address. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

To  crush  the  Rebel  army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
the  flower  of  the  Confederate  forces,  commanded 
by  General  Lee  in  person,  was  the  task  General 
Grant  had  chosen  for  the  army  directly  under  his 
command.  The  first  step  in  this  endeavor  was  to 
issue  orders  the  all-pervading  tenor  of  which  was 
to  attack  Lee  whenever  opportunity  offered,  and 
follow  him  wherever  he  went,  fighting  or  harrassing 


2O2  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

him  without  cessation,  allowing  him  no   time   for 
rest  or  opportunity  for  recuperation. 

HOW    TO    ATTACK    LEE. 

Two  plans  of  attack  were  considered  : 

First :  To  cross  the  Rapidan  below  Lee's  army, 
move  rapidly  upon  his  right  flank,  and  turn  or 
crush  it. 

Second:  To  crhss  above  Lee's  army,  threaten  his 
left  flank,  and  force  him  to  accept  a  general  en 
gagement  or  retreat. 

While  either  plan  possessed  many  strong  points 
in  its  favor,  there  were  considerations  which  ren 
dered  each  somewhat  hazardous.  After  due  de 
liberation,  the  first  was  adopted 

General  Sherman  was  to  keep  General  John 
ston's  army  well  employed.  General  Banks  was  to 
operate  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  while 
General  McPherson  assumed  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee.  The 
general  orders  to  these  commanders  were  to  con 
stantly  face  the  enemy,  keep  him  so  well  engaged 
that  not  a  man  or  a  gun  could  be  sent  to  re-enforce 
any  of  the  yielding  points  of  their  line  elsewhere. 

THE    WORK    OF    PREPARATION. 

For  a  few  weeks  the  camps  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  resounded  with  the  notes  of  preparation. 
Re-enforcements  were  gathered  in,  supplies  were  ac 
cumulated,  and  the  organization  perfected.  Grant 
made  constant  tours  of  inspection,  cultivated  the 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  20$ 

confidence  of  the  army,  and  kindled  anew  its  faith 
and  enthusiasm.  He  was  in  almost  daily  confer 
ence  with  the  authorities  at  Washington,  receiving 
their  suggestions  and  explaining  his  own  plan  of 
operation.  When  everything  had  been  arranged, 
he  took  the  field,  and  just  eight  weeks  from  the 
time  of  receiving  his  commission  he  issued  the 
order  of  advance,  to  turn  if  possible  the  right  flank 
of  the  enemy. 

THE    POSITION    OF    THE   ARMY. 

The  position  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  at 
the  commencement  of  this  movement  was  along 
the  north  bank  of  the  Rapidan,  confronting  and 
watching  the  army  of  General  Lee.  The  forces  of 
the  latter  were  strongly  entrenched  on  the  opposite 
bank,  his  corps  admirably  disposed,  and  all  his  ex 
posed  points  adequately  guarded.  Thus  secured, 
he  defiantly  awaited  the  development  of  the  plans 
of  his  new  adversary. 

This,  as  we  have  said  before,  was  to  cross  the 
river  below,  and,  by  a  sudden  movement,  turn  his 
right  flank  and  cut  him  off  from  Richmond  ;  then 
by  fiercer  battles  beat  him,  and  destroy  his  army. 
Failing  in  this,  his  plan  was  to  force  his  left,  and  by 
this  flank  movement  follow  him  to  Richmond. 

THE    WILDERNESS. 

In  making  the  movement  desired,  it  was  neces 
sary  that  our  troops  should  pass  over  a  broken 
table-land  called  the  Wilderness,  covered  with 


2O4  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

patches  of  timber — a  dense  undergrowth ;  ravinw? 
and  fallen  trees  affording  a  natural  covert  for  the 
enemy,  and  rendering  our  own  movement  slow, 
tedious,  and  full  of  danger.  It  was  almost  impos 
sible  for  cavalry  to  operate  there,  and  our  artillery 
was  rendered  mostly  useless.  It  was  hoped  that  by 
a  sudden  movement  our  army  would  be  able  to 
cross  this  dangerous  field  without  encountering 
Lee's  legions. 

A    FIERCE    STRUGGLE. 

On  the  3d  of  May  a  stirring  address  was  issued 
to  the  army,  and  at  midnight  the  movement  com 
menced.  Our  forces  were  successfully  crossed  at 
Germanna  and  Ely's  Ford.  The  crossing  was  a  sur 
prise,  but  Lee  soon  recovered  and  pushed  forward 
two  columns  to  contest  our  advance  ;  it  thus  became 
evident  that  the  ugly  Wilderness  could  not  be 
passed  without  a  fierce  battle,  and  General  Grant 
prepared  for  the  struggle.  As  soon  as  the  enemy's 
advance  was  known,  General  Warren,  who  led  the 
Union  advance,  was  ordered  to  halt,  concentrate  his 
forces,  and  attack  vigorously  whatever  he  should  find 
in  his  front,  while  several  other  divisions  were  put 
in  motion  for  his  support.  Warren  drove  the  enemy, 
but  the  almost  impenetrable  nature  of  the  wood  pre 
vented  the  arrival  of  the  supports,  and  the  advant 
age  was  lost.  Thus  encouraged,  the  enemy  made 
frantic  efforts  to  crush  General  Warren  before  aid 
could  arrive ;  but  they  were  handsomely  foiled. 
Soon  re-enforcements  for  both  armies  began  to  come 


GRANT'S  MILITARY  CAREER.  205 

up,  and  the  battle  raged  more  fiercely  than  ever. 
While  our  gallant  troops  were  heroically  resisting 
the  headlong  outset  of  the  enemy,  General  Han 
cock  reached  the  field  with  the  Second  Corps,  and 
the  battle  was  resumed  with  increased  fury,  and 
continued  with  varying  success  until  nightfall. 

As  soon  as  he  had  received  reports  from  his  corps 
commanders,  General  Grant  issued  orders  to  have 
everything  in  readiness  for  a  general  attack  at  pre 
cisely  5  o'clock  the  next  morning,  each  commander 
being  directed  to  vigorously  assault  whatever  it 
found  in  its  front. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  describe  in  detail  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  another  day  of  heroic  fighting  followed  with 
out  decisive  results  for  either  party.  Lee,  it  is  true, 
had  been  forced  from  the  Wilderness,  but  he  had 
withdrawn  to  a  new  line  of  defence,  little  inferior  in 
strength  to  the  one  he  had  been  forced  to  abandon. 

THE    FLANK     MOVEMENT. 

General  Grant  instantly  determined  upon  a  flank 
movement  by  the  way  of  Spottsylvania  Court 
House.  Scarcely  had  our  columns  begun  to  move 
before  traitors  in  camp  found  means  to  communi 
cate  the  fact  to  General  Lee,  or  else  that  able 
general  penetrated  the  design;  for  he  hurried  all 
his  available  force  in  the  same  direction,  and  pre 
pared  to  oppose  us.  Desultory  fighting  followed, 
and  on  the  loth  a  terrible  general  engagement  en 
sued,  of  which,  though  the  advantage  was  on  the 


2O6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

side  of  the  Union  arms,   the  result   was    not  de 
cisive. 

The  next  day  General  Grant  sent  the  following 
dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War : 

HEADQUARTERS  IN  THE  FIELD,  May  n,  1864,  8  A.  M. 

We  have  now  ended  the  sixth  day  of  very  heavy  fighting.  The  result,  to 
this  time,  is  much  in  our  favor. 

Our  losses  have  been  heavy,  as  well  as  those  of  the  enemy.  I  think  the 
loss  of  the  enemy  must  be  greater. 

We  have  taken  over  five  thousand  prisoners  by  battle,  while  he  has  taken 
from  us  but  few,  except  stragglers. 

I    PROPOSE   TO    FIGHT    IT  OUT   ON  THIS  LINE,  IF  IT  TAKES  ALL  SUMMER. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General, 
Commanding  the  Armies  of  the  United  States. 

The  next  day,  being  the  i2th,  General  Han 
cock  was  ordered  to  make  another  assault  upon 
the  enemy's  works,  which  proved  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  of  the  campaign.  General  Edward  John 
son's  entire  division,  with  its  general,  two  other 
brigades,  Brigadier-General  Geo.  H.  Stewart  and 
thirty  guns  were  captured.  The  Rebels,  largely 
re-enforced,  made  frantic  efforts  to  retrieve  the  for 
tunes  of  the  day,  but  with  poor  success  ;  and  at 
nightfall  the  fighting  ceased. 

CONGRATULATIONS   TO    THE    TROOPS. 

The  result  of  the  last  day's  work  had  been  so 
decidedly  in  our  favor  that  General  Meade  deemed 
it  proper  to  issue  the  following  order : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

May  13,  1864. 

SOLDIERS — The   moment  has   arrived   when   your  commanding   general 
feels  authorized  to  address  you  in  terms  of  congratulation. 

For  eight  days  and  nights,  almost  -without  intermission,  in  rain  and  sun- 


GRANT  S  MILITARY  CAREER.  2C»7 

shine,  you  have  been  gallantly  fighting  a  desperate  foe,  in  positions  naturally 
strong,  and  rendered  doubly  so  by  intrenchments. 

You  have  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  fortifications  on  the  Rapidan,  to 
retire  and  attempt  to  stop  your  onward  progress  ;  and  now  he  has  abandoned 
the  last  intrenched  position  so  tenaciously  held,  suffering  a  loss  in  all  of 
eighteen  guns,  twenty-two  colors,  and  eight  thousand  prisoners,  including 
two  general  officers. 

Your  heroic  deeds  and  noble  endurance  of  fatigue  and  privations,  will 
ever  be  memorable.  Let  us  return  thanks  to  God  for  the  mercy  thus  shown 
us,  and  ask  earnestly  for  its  continuation. 

Soldiers !  Your  work  is  not  yet  over.  The  enemy  must  be  pursued,  and, 
if  possible,  overcome.  The  courage  and  fortitude  you  have  displayed  renders 
your  commanding  general  confident  your  future  efforts  will  result  in  success. 

While  we  mourn  the  loss  of  many  gallant  comrades,  let  us  remember  the 
enemy  must  have  suffered  equal,  if  not  greater,  losses. 

We  shall  soon  receive  re-inforcements,  which  he  cannot  expect.  Let  us 
determine  to  continue  vigorously  the  work  so  well  begun,  and,  under  God's 
blessing,  in  a  short  time  the  object  of  our  labors  will  be  accomplished. 

GEORGE  G.  MEADE, 
Major-General  commanding. 

Official,  S.  WILLIAMS,  A.  A.  G. 

Approved,  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

Commanding  the  Armies  of  the  United  States. 

THE    PROGRESS    OF    THE    CAMPAIGN. 

The  campaign  had  now  lasted  nearly  two  weeks, 
with  almost  constant  fighting;  and  although  the 
enemy  had  been  steadily  forced  back,  he  had  retired 
sullenly,  fought  gallantly  and  still  presented  a  defi 
ant  front.  To  avoid  the  hazard  and  loss  of  another 
direct  assault,  General  Grant  resolved  upon  another 
flank  movement,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  turn 
the  enemy's  left,  and  force  him  to  confront  him  upon 
the  former  battle-fields  of  Cold  Harbor  and  Gaines's 
Mills.  Incessant  fighting  marked  the  progress  of 
this  movement,  and  Grant's  abilities  as  a  commander 
were  never  more  severely  taxed.  He  was  called 


2O8  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

upon  to  manoeuvre  a  large  army  in  an  extremely 
difficult  and  thoroughly  hostile  country,  in  the  face 
of  a  brave,  sagacious  and  desperate  enemy  fighting 
for  the  salvation  of  his  capital  and  the  very  life  of 
his  cause.  The  flanking  movements  we  had  inaug 
urated,  and  in  which  we  must  persist  until  we  should 
reach  more  permanent  ground  south  of  Richmond, 
constantly  exposed  our  flank,  and  our  troops  must 
be  kept  well  together,  always  ready  to  form  in  line 
of  battle  to  repel  the  enemy's  attack. 

FLANKING   AGAIN. 

Carefully  watching  every  exposed  point,  General 
Grant  moved  his  army  to  the  North  Anna  river 
and  crossed  it,  when  he  again  found  Lee  in  a  strong 
position.  Finding,  after  a  severe  engagement,  that 
his  works  could  only  be  carried  with  heavy  loss, 
General  Grant  again  flanked  him,  and  swinging 
around  toward  Cold  Harbor  and  Gaines's  Mill, 
gradually  approached  Richmond,  and  at  the  same 
time  again  forced  Lee  to  leave  his  strongly  en 
trenched  position. 

BATTLE    OF    COLD    HARBOR. 

At  Cold  Harbor  the  two  armies  met,  and  fought 
one  of  the  most  fierce  and  deadly  battles  of  the 
war.  The  enemy  again  successfully  resisted  our 
assault,  and  then  Grant  decided  to  cross  his  army 
to  the  south  side  of  the  James  river  by  the  enemy's 
right  flank,  and  cut  his  communications  and  lines  of 
supply.  As  the  first  important  step  in  the  pro- 


GRANTS    MILITARY    CAREER.  2OQ 

gramme,  Generals  Butler  and  Gilmore  were  direct 
ed  to  seize  Petersburg,  an  important  railway  point, 
and  destroy  the  bridges.  A  succession  of  unto 
ward  circumstances  followed,  and  before  General 
Grant  could  reach  the  field  in  person  to  repair  the 
mistakes  of  his  subordinates,  the  enemy  had  ren 
dered  the  position  too  strong  for  assault.  Into 
that  stronghold  the  enemy  gathered  his  strength, 
and  around  it  the  great  captain  drew  his  lines,  thus 
laying  upon  the  devoted  city  of  Richmond  the  first 
coil  of  that  anaconda  grasp,  ever  tightening  and 
never  to  be  released  until  'the  object  of  assault 
should  be  strangled  and  lie  lifeless  in  his  embrace. 

AROUND    PETERSBURG. 

From  the  28th  of  June,  1864,  to  the  29th  of 
March,  1865,  the  grand  armies  confronted  each 
other  at  Petersburg.  In  the  meantime  numerous 
raiding  parties  had  gone  out  in  every  direction, 
harassing  the  enemy,  breaking  his  line  of  com 
munication,  capturing  his  trains  and  wearing  him 
out  by  unremitting  assaults  or  threats  of  assault,  at 
all  points  of  his  line. 

General  Grant  became  convinced  early  in  March, 
that  General  Lee  was  only  waiting  the  opportunity 
to  evacuate  Petersburg,  and  if  he  could  elude  our 
army,  join  General  Johnston  in  North  Carolina,  and 
with  the  united  forces,  inaugurate  a  new,  long  and 
bloody  campaign. 

To  prevent  a  consummation  so  full  of  peril,  now 
became  Grant's  sole  purpose.  General  Sherman, 


210  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

who  was  operating  against  Johnston,  was  summoned 
to  Petersburg  for  consultation,  and  instructed  to 
press  the  latter  without  cessation,  and  allow  no  op 
portunity  for  any  concerted  action  with  General 
Lee. 

THE    FINAL   STRUGGLE. 

For  himself,  he  put  everything  in  readiness  for 
any  emergency.  His  camp  was  cleared  of  the  sick, 
and  all  superfluous  baggage.  The  several  divi 
sions  were  reviewed,  the  organization  perfected,  and, 
thus  prepared,  he  waited  the  first  signal  of  the 
Rebel  retreat.  His  plan  was  to  attack  him  the 
moment  the  movement  began,  and  rout  him  if  pos 
sible  ;  failing  in  this,  he  was  to  mass  his  cavalry, 
destroy  the  communications  between  Lee  and  John 
ston,  and  not  only  prevent  their  junction,  but  beat 
them  in  detail. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  orders  were  issued  for 
General  Sheridan  to  move.  The  following  is  an 
extract  from  Sheridan's  instructions : 

"  You  may  go  out  by  the  nearest  roads  in  rear  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  pass  by 
its  left,  and  passing  near  to  or  through  Dinwiddie,  reach  the  right  and  rear 
of  the  enemy  as  soon  as  you  can.  It  is  not  the  intention  to  attack  the 
enemy  in  his  intrenched  position,  but  to  force  him  out  if  possible.  Should  he 
come  out  and  attack  us,  or  get  himself  where  he  can  be  attacked,  move  in 
with  your  entire  force  in  your  own  way,  and  with  the  full  reliance  that  the 
army  will  engage  or  follow  as  circumstances  will  dictate.  I  shall  be  on  the 
field,  and  will  probably  be  able  to  communicate  with  you.  Should  I  not  do 
so,  and  you  find  that  the  enemy  keeps  within  his  main  intrenched  line,  you 
may  cut  loose  and  push  for  the  Danville  road.  If  you  find  it  practicable,  I 
would  like  you  to  cross  the  Southside  road,  between  Petersburg  and  Burkes- 
ville,  and  destroy  it  to  some  extent.  I  would  not  advise  much  detention, 
however,  until  you  reach  the  Danville  road,  which  I  would  like  you  to  strike 
as  near  to  the  Appomattox  as  possible.  Make  your  destruction  of  that  road 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  211 

as  complete  as  possible,     You  can  then  pass  on  to  the  Southside  road,  west 
of  Burkesville,  and  destroy  that  in  like  manner." 

NO    ESCAPE    FOR    LEE. 

In  the  meantime  our  lines  continued  to  contract 
around  the  Rebel  stronghold,  and  had  been  so 
strengthened  that  General  Grant  felt  almost  certain 
that  the  time  had  at  last  come  for  capturing  Rich 
mond,  and,  what  was  more  important,  defeating 
Lee  and  forcing  him  to  a  surrender. 

He  accordingly  sent  to  General  Sheridan  the 
following  significant  dispatch  : 

GRAVELLY  RUN,  March  29,  1865. 

GENERAL — Our  line  is  now  unbroken  from  the  Appomattox  to  Dinwiddie 
I  now  feel  like  ending  the  matter,  if  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  before  going 
back.  I  do  not  want  you,  therefore,  to  cut  loose  and  go  after  the  enemy's 
roads  at  present.  In  the  morning,  push  round  the  enemy  if  you  can,  and 
get  on  to  his  right  rear.  The  movements  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  may,  of 
course,  modify  your  action.  We  will  all  act  together  as  one  army  here,  until 
it  is  seen  what  can  be  done  with  the  enemy. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  P.  H.  SHERIDAN. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    FIVE    FORKS 

On  the  3oth,  Sheridan  pushed  forward  and  fought 
the  Battle  of  Five  Forks,  striking  the  rear  of  the 
enemy  and  inflicting  much  loss  upon  him.  Other 
successes  followed.  Lee's  lines  were  forced  at  sev 
eral  points,  and  at  last  the  grand  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  was  pushed  from  its  entrenchments, 
and  went  streaming  westward  in  great  confusion 
along  the  main  road  by  the  Appomattox.  The 
Federal  troops  pursued  sharply,  dealing  heavy 
blows  at  every  opportunity. 


212  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

TERROR    IN    RICHMOND. 

The  night  of  the  2d  of  April  was  one  of  great 
terror  and  consternation  in  Richmond.  The  dis 
aster  to  General  Lee  could  no  longer  be  concealed, 
and  the  proud  Rebel  capital  was  known  to  be  de 
fenceless.  On  Sunday,  the  2d,  it  was  evacuated, 
and  on  the  following  morning  our  victorious  troops 
entered. 

Lee,  with  the  remnant  of  his  army  hastened 
along  the  Danville  road,  hoping  to  reach  Johnston 
in  North  Carolina.  Sheridan  made  a  forced  march 
and  planted  himself  directly  across  the  line  Lee 
was  following,  while  the  main  army  was  pressing 
him  closely  on  the  other  side.  Unable  to  cope 
with  either  antagonist,  nothing  was  left  the  Rebel 
army  but  to  drift  hopelessly  westward  and  put  off 
for  a  few  hours  the  evil  day. 

THE   SURRENDER. 

From  the  4th  to  the  ;th  of  April,  the  dissolving 
Rebel  army  struggled  against  its  inevitable  fate. 
Believing  that  the  end  had  at  last  come,  General 
Grant  sent  the  following  letter  to  General  Lee: 

April  7,  1865. 

General: — The  result  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you  of  the  hope 
lessness  of  further  resistance,  on  the  part  of  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from 
myself  the  responsibility  of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you 
the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States  army  known  as  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

U.  S.  GRANT  Lieutenant-General. 
GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE. 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  213 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  Sth,  before  leaving, 
Grant  received  at  Farmville  the  following : 

April  7,  1865. 

GENERAL  : — I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date.  Though  not  entertain 
ing  the  opinion  you  express  on  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  I  reciprocate  your  desire  to  avoid 
useless  effusion  of  blood,  and,  therefore,  before  considering  your  proposition, 
ask  the  terms  you  will  offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender. 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

To  this  Grant  immediately  replied : 

April  8,  1865. 

GENERAL  : — Your  note  of  last  evening,  in  reply  to  mine  of  same  date,  ask 
ing  the  condition  on  which  I  will  accept  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia,  is  just  received.  In  reply,  I  would  say,  that  peace  being  my 
great  desire,  there  is  but  one  condition  I  would  insist  upon — namely,  that 
the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up  arms 
again  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged. 
I  will  meet  you,  or  will  designate  officers  to  meet  any  officers  you  may  name 
for  the  same  purpose,  at  any  point  agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arrang 
ing  definitely  the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  will  be  received. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 
GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE. 

General  Lee  promptly  replied  as  follows : 

April  8,  1865. 

GENERAL  : — I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  of  to-day  in  answer  to  mine 
of  yesterday. 

I  did  not  intend  to  propose  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 
giania,  but  to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think 
the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender.  But  as  the  restoration  of 
peace  should  be  the  sole  object  of  all,  I  desire  to  know  whether  your  pro 
posals  would  tend  to  that  end. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  surrender  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  but  so  far  as  your  proposition  may  affect  the  Confederate 
States  forces  under  my  command,  and  lead  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  I 
should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  10  A.  M.,  to-morrow,  on  the  eld  stage-road 
to  Richmond,  between  the  picket  lines  of  the  two  armies. 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

To  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT. 


214  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

The  following  is  Grant's  rejoinder : 

April  9,  1865. 
GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. : 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  As  I  have  no  authority 
to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace,  the  meeting  proposed  for  10  A.  M.,  to-day, 
could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state,  however,  General,  that  I  am  equally 
anxious  for  peace  with  yourself;  and  the  whole  North  entertain  the  same 
feeling.  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood.  By 
the  South  laying  down  their  arms  they  will  hasten  that  most  desirable  event, 
save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  property  not  yet 
destroyed. 

Sincerely  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of 
another  life,  I  subscribe  myself,  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

General  Lee's  response  was  as  follows : 

April  9,  1865. 

GENERAL  :  I  received  your  note  of  this  morning  on  the  picket  line, 
whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you  and  ascertain  definitely  what  terms  were  em 
braced  in  your  proposition  of  yesterday  with  reference  to  the  surrender  of 
this  army. 

I  now  request  an  interview  in  accordance  with  the  offer  contained  in  your 
letter  of  yesterday  for  that  purpose.  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

To  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT. 

The  following  letter  closed  the  correspondence 
on  the  part  of  General  Grant : 

APPOMATTOX  COURT-HOUSE,  Va.,  April  9,  1865. 

GENERAL  :  In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of  the  8th 
instant,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
on  the  following  terms — to  wit :  Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made 
in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to  be  designated  by  me,  the 
other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  officers  as  you  may  designate.  The 
officers  to  give  their  individual  paroles  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged  ;  and  each  company 
or  regimental  commander  to  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  com 
mands.  The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property  to  be  packed  and  stacked, 
and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This  will 
not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  baggage. 
This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home,  not 
to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they  observe  their 
paroles,  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE. 


GRANTS  MILITARY  CAREER.  215 

The  rebel  General's  reply  was  as  follows : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 

April  9,  1865. 

GENERAL  : — I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  containing  the  terms  of 
surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  as  proposed  by  you.  As  they  are 
substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  they 
are  accepted.  I  will  proceed  to  designate  the  proper  officers  to  carry  the 
stipulations  into  effect.  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

The  terms  of  this  correspondence  were  carried 
out  without  delay.  How  desperately  the  war  had 
been.carried  on  by  the  rebel  leaders  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that,  though  the  names  of  150,000  men 
were  borne  on  Lee's  muster-rolls  a  few  weeks  be 
fore,  there  were  but  27,000  found  to  surrender  to 
Grant.  Desertion  had  told  the  story;  and  this  was 
brought  about  only  by  failing  supplies  and  a  hope 
less  cause.  Of  arms  and  ammunition,  however, 
there  was  a  rich  supply,  and  these  were  turned 
over  to  Grant,  as  trophies  of  his  victory  over  the 
ablest  and  best  beloved  general  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  one  but  for  whose  staunchness  and  sagacity,  the 
victory  would  have  been  much  more  easily  won. 

GRANT'S  MILITARY  GENIUS. 

We  do  not  propose  to  enter  here  upon  a  minute 
analysis  of  General  Grant's  military  methods,  or 
discuss  the  question  of  his  genius  as  a  general. 
This  has  been  done  in  more  technical  works,  as 
Coppee's  Life  of  Grant,  Swinton's  able  work  on 
the  battles  of  the  late  civil  war,  and  various  treat 
ises  by  both  American  and  European  writers. 
In  Mr.  Greeley's  "American  Conflict,"  second  vol 
ume,  the  reader  will  find  a  brief  but  vigorous  de- 


2l6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

fence  of  Grant's  plan  of  the  Virginia  Campaign,  so 
hastily  sketched  above ;  and  in  hisjournal — the  New 
York  Tribune — of  July  2d,  1864,  he  paid  the  follow 
ing  glowing  tribute  to  the  man  who  "broke  the 
back  of  the  Slaveholder's  Rebellion:" 

"  We  loathe  man-worship,  yet  every  day's  experi 
ence  strengthens  our  faith  in  Lieutenant-General 
Grant  The  task  devolved  on  him  is  arduous  ;  he 
is  confronted  by  an  able  general  and  a  gallant  vet 
eran  army  who  enjoy  enormous  advantages  in.their 
defensive  attitudes,  the  nature  of  the  country  and 
their  intimate  knowledge  of  its  topography ;  yet 
from  the  hour  of  his  crossing  the  Rapidan,  General 
Grant  has  gone  steadily,  sturdily  forward,  repelling 
impetuous  attacks,  assaulting  (when  necessary) 
strongly  fortified  positions ;  withdrawing  unobserved 
from  the  immediate  front  of  his  wary  antagonist  and 
effecting  the  most  daring  and  difficult  flank  move 
ments,  thereby  achieving  the  fruits  of  victory  with 
out  encountering  the  carnage  which  is  the  usual 
cost  of  success — and  all  this  with  a  stern  quietude 
that  indicates  reserved  force  and  a  consciousness 
of  power  adapted  to  any  emergency.  We  are  not 
apt  to  be  over  sanguine  ;  we  realize  that  victory  is 
often  a  happy  accident  and  that  occurrences  purely 
fortuitous  often  derange  and  defeat  the  ablest  com 
binations  ;  but,  having  noted  his  bearing  under 
every  phase  of  fortune,  his  quick  improvement  of 
advantages  and  his  skillful  reparation  of  mischances, 
we  cannot  doubt  that  he  has  true  military  genius, 
and  that  he  will  do  whatever  one  man  can  do  to 
break  the  back  of  the  Slaveholder's  Rebellion." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
GRANT  AS  PRESIDENT. 

Difficulties  Encountered  on  his  Induction  to  the  Chair  of  State — General 
Policy  of  the  Administration-/-The  Will  of  the  People  Supreme — Econo 
my  the  Rule — Some  Figures — Grant  and  the  Civil  Service — Important  Re 
forms — Grant  and  Amnesty — Policy  toward  the  Colored  Race — The  Treaty 
with  England — History  of  the  Negotiations — Grant's  Indian  Policy — The 
Olive  Branch  Armed  with  a  Switch. 

Some  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  with  which 
President  Grant  had  to  contend  at  the  outset  of 
his  administration  were  alluded  to  in  a  previous 
chapter ;  the  two  chief  being  reconstruction  and 
the  unhappy  state  of  the  civil  service.  Each  of 
these  was  partly  the  natural  growth  of  the  war  and 
partly  the  legacy  of  Andrew  Johnson's  cross-grained 
administration ;  and  the  treatment  of  either  of 
them  would  have  furnished  a  very  good  eight  years' 
job  to  a  moderately  active  President.  But  General 
Grant,  though  commencing  his  administration  very 
modestly,  so  far  as  all  his  public  utterances  went, 
has  undertaken  not  only  these  Herculean  labors 
which  thrust  themselves  forward  the  most  promi 
nently,  but  numerous  other  beneficent  works  with 
in  the  sphere  of  his  duties  as  Executive.  Many  of 
these  he  has  happily  accomplished ;  others  he  has 
advanced  creditably,  and  seems  sure  to  secure  both 
Congressional  and  popular  co-operation  in  their 

(219) 


22O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

behalf  within  a  year  or  two  ;  while  a  single  one, 
having  met  serious  opposition  in  the  legislative 
branch, — which  General  Grant,  unlike  his  predeces 
sor,  consents  cheerfully  to  recognize  as  a  co-ordi 
nate  branch  of  the  Government, — has  been  quietly 
dropped,  in  lieu  of  the  persistent  scolding  to  which 
Congress  became  so  accustomed  during  the  incum 
bency  of  Johnson. 

GRANT'S  VIEW  OF  HIS  DUTIES. 

Grant's  general  policy,  as  mapped  out  by  himself, 
for  himself,  at  his  inauguration,  has  been  made  fa 
miliar  to  all.  "  The  office,"  he  said,  "  has  come  to 
me  unsought.  I  commence  its  duties  untrammeled. 
I  bring  to  it  a  conscientious  desire  and  determin 
ation  to  fill  it  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  the  satis 
faction  of  the  people.  On  all  leading  questions 
agitating  the  public  mind  I  will  always  express  my 
views  to  Congress,  and  urge  them  according  to  my 
judgment ;  and  when  I  think  it  advisable  will  exer 
cise  the  constitutional  privilege  of  interposing  a 
veto  to  defeat  measures  which  I  oppose.  But  all 
laws  will  be  faithfully  executed,  whether  they  meet 
my  approval  or  not.  I  shall  on  all  subjects  have  a 
policy  to  recommend,  but  none  to  enforce  against 
the  will  of  the  people.  Laws  are  to  govern  all 
alike,  those  opposed  to  as  well  as  those  who  favor 
them.  I  know  no  method  to  secure  the  repeal  of 
bad  or  obnoxious  laws  so  effective  as  their  string 
ent  execution." 

In  other  words,  he  proposed  to    discharge  the 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  221 

duties  of  an  Executive  without  attempting  to 
trench  upon  those  of  the  Legislature.  He  rightly 
judged  that  as  an  Executive  merely  (with  his  slight 
semi-legislative  function  added,  of  signing  or  veto 
ing  acts  of  Congress)  he  could  find  ample  scope 
for  all  his  ability  and  energy,  even  though  he  were 
the  ablest  and  most  energetic  of  statesmen. 

ECONOMY    IN    ADMINISTRATION. 

As  is  well  known,  one  of  the  main  tenets  of  the 
Republican  faith  is  Economy  in  administration.  As 
is  also  well  known,  the  annual  expenses  of  the 
Government,  at  the  installation  of  President  Grant, 
had  become  very  large — partly  through  the  inevit 
able  increase  of  business,  especially  of  the  Reve 
nue  Department  incident  to  the  long  war,  and 
partly  through  the  demoralization  brought  about 
by  Johnson.  To  reform  this  as  far  as  possible,  and 
to  reduce  the  annual  outgo  to  the  minimum,  was 
the  early  effort  of  President  Grant. 

During  the  year  ending  July  i,  1866,  the  annual 
revenues  of  the  Government,  raised  from  duties 
and  from  excise  taxes,  reached  the  enormous  sum 
°f  $558,000,000.  Thrs  sum  has  been  so  reduced 
that,  although  we  are  still  paying  off  $100,000,000 
annually  of  the  national  debt  and  defraying  all  the 
interest  as  it  comes  due,  the  Government  only  asks 
about  $240,000,000  per  year  from  the  people  for  all 
purposes.  Part  of  the  reductions  have  been  made 
by  Congress,  to  be  sure ;  but  they  could  not  have 
been  made  if  the  collection  of  duties  and  of  inter- 


222  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

nal  revenue  had  been  carried  on  in  the  lax  and  dis 
honest  fashion  of  Johnson's  time.  To  collect  an 
annual  revenue  of  $46,000,000  from  spirits  and  to 
bacco  in  1867-8,  for  instance,  cost  $1,200,000  more 
under  Johnson's  administration  than  it  did  to  col 
lect  $87,000,000 — nearly  twice  as  much — in  1870-1 
under  Grant's  administration.  (And  it  is  the  for 
mer  office-holders  of  Andy  Johnson  who  are  now 
most  active  in  forwarding  Greeley's  cause ;  and 
who  are  promised  by  the  Chicago  Tribune — the 
great  civil  service  reformer ! — that  they  shall  not 
be  prevented  from  enjoying  their  "spoils"  when 
Greeley  comes  into  the  White  House.) 

The    aggregate  'reduction  of   internal    revenue 
since  1866  has  been  as  follows: 

Act  of  July  13,  1866... $65.000,000 

Act  of  March  2,  1867 40,000,000 

Act  of  February  3,  1868 23,000,000 

Act  of  March  31,  1668,  )  ..  o  o  QQ- 

Act  of  July  20,  1868,      p- 

Act  of  July  14,  1870 55,000,000 

Total $228,000,000 

Adding  to  this  the  tariff  reduction  of  July,  1870, 
amounting  to  $30,000,000,  and  that  of  the  measure 
j'ust  passed,  amounting  to  about  $53,000,000,  and 
we  have  a  grand  total  of  $3 10,000,000,  annual  taxes 
taken  off,  since  July  i,  1869.  This  reduction  has 
been  voted  by  a  Republican  Congress.  What  has 
been  voted  since  March  4,  1860,  has  been  done 
with  the  consent  of  President  Grant's  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  has  been  done  because  the  effi 
cient  collection  of  the  taxes,  without  unnecessary 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  223 

expense,  has    caused  the  same  tax  to  yield  much 
better  than  it  did  in  Democratic  days. 

Then,  as  to  the  cost  of  collection  :  Mr.  Eugene 
Hale,  of  Maine,  in  a  recent  speech  in  Congress,  in 
troduced  the  following  statement  made  to  him  by 
Revenue  Commissioner  Douglas : 

"In  reply  to  your  verbal  request,  I  have  the  honor  to  hand  you  the  following 
as  the  number  of  each  grade  of  officers  of  this  bureau  whose  services  have 
been  dispensed  with  from  March  4,  1869,  to  January  I,  1872  : 

Collectors  (consolidation  of  districts) _ 9 

Assessors  (consolidation  of  districts) __ - 9 

Assistant  Assessors - 1,355 

Distillery  Storekeepers 129 

Distillery    Surveyors 209 

Tobacco  Inspectors 625 

TotaL 2,334 

"From  the  best  information  in  my  possession  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the 
saving  to  the  Government  by  this  reduction  will  equal,  if  it  does  not  exceed, 
$1,200,000  per  annum." 

Another  exhibit : 

Expenses  of  Government,  year  ending  July  I,  1866 $520,809,416.99 

"      "  1867 357,542,675-16 

1  "  "         "         "      "  1868.. 377,340,284.86 

14         '  "  "         "         "      "  1869 322,865,277.80 

"  "         "         "      "  1870 _  309,653,560.75 

"  "         "         "      "  1871. 295,177,188.25 

(This  includes  interest  on  the  public  debt.) 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  exhibit  that  in  1868, 
when  Andy  Johnson  fell  fully  into  the  arms  of  the 
Democracy,  the  expenditures  of  his  administration 
were  $20,000,000  larger  than  in  1867;  while  the 
first  year  of  President  Grant's  administration — 
1869 — shows  a  decrease  of  $54,000,000.  This  was 
followed,  in  1870,  by  a  decrease  of  $13,000,000,  and 
of  $14,000,000  in  1871. 

Another :     The  subjoined  figures  show  the  ex- 


224  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

penditures  of  the  Government  for  carrying  on  the 
civil  administration  during  each  tenth  year : 

YEAR.                                             POPULATION.  EXPENDITURES.  PER  CAPITA. 

1800. 5,305.925  $io,8i3,,97i  01  $2  03 

1810. 7,239,814  8,474,753  37  *7 

1820 9,638,131  18,285,534  89  89 

1830 _  12,866,020  15,142,108  26  17 

1840---   17,069,453  24,314,518  19  42 

1850 .23,191,876  40,948,38312  76 

1860 .31,443,321  58,489,037  16  86 

1871 38,555,983  57,117,33243  48 

(The  figures  for  1860  and  1871  are  exclusive  of  permanent  public  improve 
ments.) 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  it  cost  the  people  about  26 
per  cent,  more  per  capita  to  carry  on  the  various 
Departments  of  the  Government  when  the  Demo 
crats  were  in  power,  and  had  been  so  eight  years, 
than  it  did  when  the  Republicans  had  the  job. 
This  will  do  for  illustrations  of  President  Grant's 
efforts  in  behalf  of  Economy.  We  have  shown  that 
Grant's  administration,  while  paying  off  $100,000,000 
per  year  of  the  national  debt  and  defraying 
promptly  the  annual  interest  on  the  remainder,  has 
reduced  the  total  annual  expenses  some  $3 1 0,000,000, 
and  the  expenses  of  special  departments  in  a  way 
to  show  that  the  present  Executive  has  made  it  a 
constant  and  successful  study  to  develop  the  great 
est  possible  amount  of  revenue  at  the  least  possible 
cost. 

MAINTAINING    THE    PUBLIC    CREDIT. 

Unquestionably  it  is  to  this  economy  of  admin 
istration,  and  to  the  steady  policy  of  the  Govern 
ment  in  nursing  tenderly  the  Public  Credit,  that 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  225 

the  great  material  prosperity  of  the  country  during 
the  years  of  Grant's  administration  is  due.  His 
selection  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  proved  to 
be  a  most  happy  one,  and  Mr.  Boutwell  has  by  his 
honesty,  his  firmness  and  his  inventive  genius  done 
much  to  straighten  out  our  finances  and  relieve  the 
burdens  of  the  people.  One  of  the  best  achieve 
ments  of  his  administration  has  been  the  funding 
scheme,  whereby  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of 
our  debt  will  soon  have  been  converted  from  6  per 
cents  into  5  and  4^  per  cents,  thereby  saving  in 
interest,  say  $12,000,000  per  annum.  This  reduc 
tion  could  never  have  been  accomplished  except 
through  a  great  strengthening  of  our  national 
credit  in  Europe,  consequent  upon  the  continued 
ascendency  of  the  Republican  party,  and  the  wise, 
conservative  administration  of  General  Grant.  In 
deed,  the  very  popularity  of  Grant  has  contributed 
to  this  strengthening  of  the  public  credit,  since  the 
capitalists  abroad  perceived  in  that  popularity  a 
guaranty  that  his  administration  was  not  likely  to 
be  upset  at  next  November's  election,  and  the  can 
didate  of  the  reckless,  repudiating,  Tammany- 
fostering  Democrats  installed  in  the  White  House. 
The  clamor  of  the  anti-Grant  press  and  the  re 
cent  temporary  delay  in  the  Alabama  negoti 
ations  may  serve  to  keep  this  foreign  confidence 
disturbed  somewhat  during  the  summer  and 
early  fall;  but  after  Grant's  re-election,  the  fund 
ing  of  the  remainder  of  the  debt  will  go  on  as 
before. 


226.  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 


CIVIL   SERVICE    REFORM. 

In  his  second  annual  message  to  Congress,  Presi 
dent  Grant  wrote  thus : 

"  Always  favoring  practical  reforms,  1  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  one 
abuse  of  long  standing,  which  I  would  like  to  see  remedied  by  this  Congress. 
It  is  a  reform  in  the  civil  service  of  the  country.  I  would  have  it  go  beyond 
the  mere  fixing  of  the  tenure  of  office  of  clerks  and  employees,  who  do  not 
require  "the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate"  to  make  their  appointments 
complete.  I  would  have  it  govern,  not  the  tenure,  but  the  manner  of  making 
all  appointments.  There  is  no  duty  which  so  much  embarrasses  the  Execu 
tive  and  Heads  of  Departments  as  that  of  appointments ;  nor  is  there  any 
such  arduous  and  thankless  labor  imposed  on  Senators  and  Representatives 
as  that  of  finding  places  for  constituents.  The  present  system  does  not  se 
cure  the  best  men,  and  often  not  fit  men,  for  public  place.  The  elevation  and 
purification  of  the  civil  service  of  the  Government  will  be  hailed  with  ap 
proval  by  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States." 

With  particular  reference  to  the  heads  of  Bu 
reaus  and  other  officers  of  like  grade,  he  called  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  the  vastness  of  the  inter 
ests  committed  to  them,  and  to  the  inadequacy  of 
their  salaries  to  the  responsibility  imposed  on  them. 
He  asked  for  a  change  in  this  respect,  and  said  to 
Congress,  "  There  has  been  no  hesitation  in  chang 
ing  officials  in  order  to  secure  an  efficient  execution 
of  the  laws,  sometimes,  too,  when  in  a  mere  party 
view,  undesirable  political  results  were  likely  to  fol 
low;  nor  any  hesitation  in  sustaining  efficient  of 
ficials  against  remonstrances  wholly  political." 

Is  not  this  the  Civil  Service  Reform  which  the 
anti-Grant  men  are  now  claiming  as  the  corner 
stone  of  their  platform  ? 

In  a  later  message,  President  Grant  wrote: 

"  It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  Administration  to  enforce  honesty  and  effici 
ency  in  all  public  offices.     Every  public  servant  who  has  violated  the  trust 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  22 7 

placed  in  him  has  been  proceeded  against  with  all  the  rigor  of  the  law.  If  bad 
men  have  secured  places  it  has  been  the  fault  of  the  system  established  by  law 
and  custom  for  making  appointments,  or  the  fault  of  those  who  recommend 
for  Government  positions  persons  not  sufficiently  well  known  to  them  person 
ally,  or  who  give  letters  indorsing  the  characters  of  office-seekers  without  a 
proper  sense  of  the  grave  responsibility  which  such  a  course  devolves  upon 
them  A  civil  service  reform  which  can  correct  this  abuse  is  much  desired. 
In  mercantile  pursuit,  the  business-man  who  gives  a  letter  of  recommendation 
to  a  friend,  to  enable  him  to  obtain  credit  from  a  stranger,  is  regarded  as 
morally  responsible  for  the  integrity  of  his  friend,  and  his  ability  to  meet  his 
obligations.  A  reformatory  law  which  would  enforce  this  principle  against 
all  endorsers  of  persons  for  public  place  would  insure  great  caution  in  making 
recommendations.  A  salutary  lesson  has  been  taught  the  careless  and  the 
dishonest  public  servant  in  the  great  number  of  prosecutions  and  convictions 
of  the  last  two  years." 

When  finally  Congress,  in  the  spring  of  1871, 
passed  an  act,  or  a  fragment  of  an  act,  looking  to 
ward  a  definite  reform  of  the  methods  of  appoint 
ing  to  civil  office — which  act  authorized  the  Presi 
dent  to  constitute  a  board  or  commission  for  the 
careful  investigation  of  the  whole  subject  and  the 
drafting  of  a  system  of  operations — General  Grant 
proceeded  with  alacrity  to  carry  out  the  act  accord 
ing  to  its  spirit.  He  selected  for  members  of  the 
commission,  Messrs.  George  William  Curtis,  Joseph 
Medill,  A.  G.  Cattell,  E.  B.  Elliott  and  J.  H.  Black- 
fan — the  first  two  distinguished  journalists  of  the 
very  highest  character,  whose  journals  had  expressed 
a  decided  interest  in  the  proposed  reform ;  the 
third  an  Ex-United  States  Senator,  and  a  public 
man  of  much  experience ;  and  the  last  two  old  bu 
reau  officers,  familiar  with  the  workings  of  admin 
istrative  machinery.  The  commission. sat  and  sifted 
the  subject  very  carefully  and,  at  length,  was  able  to 
report  a  partial  system,  which,  so  far  as  it  went,  was 
a  great  advance  upon  the  old  methods. 


228  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 


THE    CIVIL    SERVICE    AS    IT    WAS. 

As  generally  understood,  the  recognized  rule  of 
past  administrations,  regulating  appointments  to 
clerkships  at  Washington,  or  to  more  important 
offices  at  local  points  throughout  the  country,  has 
been  political  pressure  simply.  If  the  pol'itical 
pressure  in  behalf  of  A.  was  only  strong  enough, 
B.  had  to  be  turned  out  of  his  clerkship  to  make 
room  for  him,  no  matter  if  B.  were  much  the  bet 
ter  clerk.  This  pressure  usually  came  from  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  who  de 
manded  such  and  such  appointments  from  the  Gov 
ernment  as  their  rightful  property,  wherewith  to 
pay  off  the  debts  incurred  in  getting  themselves 
elected  to  office.  This  practice  was  very  demoral 
izing,  not  only  to  the  civil  service,  but  to  politics 
generally — since  it  debased  the  considerations  up 
on  which  men  were  nominated  to  office,  and  often 
resulted  in  the  election  of  tricky,  log-rolling,  bar 
gaining  politicians,  when  the  people  would  rather 
vote  for  men  of  parts  and  character.  It  also  em 
barrassed  the  President  with  a  great  deal  of  patch 
ing  and  peddling  which  belonged  properly  to  the 
members  themselves — or,  rather,  to  nobody  at  all. 

THE    NEW    REGIME. 

The  President  therefore  entered  with  zeal,  though 
not  with  undue  haste,  or  with  overmuch  flourish, 
into  the  work  of  reforming  the  civil  service  by  giv 
ing  employees  of  the  Government  a  better  tenure 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  2 29 

of  their  offices,  and  by  fixing  according  to  fitter  and 
more  calculable  rules,  the  method  of  their  appoint 
ment.  The  rules  framed  last  winter  by  the  Advis- 
ary  Board  of  the  Civil  Service  for  the  classification, 
qualifications,  etc.,  of  clerks  and  other  employees 
and  officers  of  the  Federal  departments  at  Washing 
ton,  have  been  in  operation  there  some  months ; 
and  a  set  of  rules,  founded  on  them,  had  a  short 
time  before  putting  this  book  to  press,  been  adopted 
for  the  New  York  Custom  House  service.  Here 
after  all  applicants  for  office  in  the  Government 
service  in  New  York  must  make  application  in 
writing,  giving  name,  age,  occupation  past  and 
present,  accompanied  by  certificate  of  character  from 
two  responsible  persons,  and  a  physician's  certificate 
of  health  and  fitness  for  clerical  labor.  The  man 
ner  in  which  these  applications  are  drawn  up  will 
go  far  to  decide  the  fitness  of  the  applicant  for  ap 
pointment.  Every  application  which  does  not  con 
form  with  the  requirements  of  the  rules,  or  which 
shows  manifest  lack  of  qualification,  will  be  sum 
marily  rejected  by  the  examining  boards.  The 
names  of  those  whose  applications  are  satisfactory 
will  be  placed  on  what  is  termed  the  "  eligible  list." 
The  persons  whose  names  are  on  this  list  will  be 
notified  to  appear  for  examination  whenever  a  va 
cancy  is  to  be  filled,  unless  it  should  be  impracti 
cable  to  examine  all  of  them,  in  which  case  a  prac 
ticable  number  of  those  apparently  best  qualified 
will  be  selected  and  summoned  for  examination. 
In  making  up  the  eligible  list  and  in  selecting  the 
14 


230  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

practicable  number,  the  board  will  be  guided  en 
tirely  by  the  merits  of  the  applications,  without  re 
gard  to  political  considerations.  The  names  of  the 
three  persons  standing  highest  on  the  list  will  be 
certified  to  by  the  board  for  the  vacancy,  and  from 
the  names  thus  certified  the  appointment  must  be 
made. 

The  regulations  of  the  advisory  board,  applying 
to  all  departments  of  government  service,  further 
required  that  such  appointments,  excepting  persons 
appointed  by  the  President,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  postmasters  and  persons  ap 
pointed  to  any  position  in  a  foreign  country,  shall  be 
made  for  a  probationary  term  of  six  months,  during 
which  the  conduct  and  capacity  of  such  persons 
shall  be  tested ;  and  if,  at  the  end  of  such  probation 
ary  term,  satisfactory  proof  of  their  fitness  shall 
have  been  furnished,  they  shall  be  re-appointed. 
The  regulations  are  stringent,  as  it  was  the  purpose 
of  the  advisory  board  and  of  the  President,  who 
was  from  the  beginning  in  entire  accord  with  them, 
to  make  the  experiment  with  perfect  sincerity  and 
good  faith.  The  object  is  to  get  the  best  service 
possible ;  and  this  method  is  the  result  of  the  best 
reflection  and  experience  which  could  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  it.  In  the  service  of  the  Treasury  de 
partment  alone  the  number  of  appointments  to 
which  the  rules  will  be  applicable  when  vacancies 
arise,  is  stated  at  fourteen  thousand.  The  morale 
of  this  branch  of  the  service  was  never  so  high  as 
it  is  now.  The  excellence  of  its  organization  and 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  23! 

the  business-like  character  and  efficiency  which  per 
vaded  it  was  recognized  even  by  the  opposition 
until  its  organs  had  political  reasons  for  blacken 
ing  it. 

The  object  of  these  rules  is  not  merely  to  fur 
nish  a  series  of  tests  by  which  the  maximum 
amount  of  ability  and  other  qualifications  can  be 
secured  in  the  employee  appointed  to  a  place  under 
the  Government.  If  this  were  so,  it  would  be  ex 
ceedingly  problematical  whether  the  competitive 
examination  system  were  worth,  in  benefits  derived 
from  it,  the  pains  and  expense  bestowed  upon  it. 
But  the  system  has  another  and  far  higher  use,  in 
that  it  furnishes  (together  with  the  system  of  pro 
motions  in  line)  a  fixed  and  definite  process  by 
which  places  under  the  Government  are  filled  with 
out  the  interference  of  political  favoritism;  and  it 
must  always  be  recollected  that  the  gravest  of 
the  evils  to  be  got  rid  of  is  not  inefficiency  of  the 
service  as  it  exists,  but  the  demoralization  of  gene 
ral  politics  by  the  introduction  of  the  spoils  doc 
trine.  There  are  other  methods  of  curing  this 
evil — such  as  a  law  of  Congress  protecting  all 
office-holders  in  their  places  during  a  certain  fixed 
term  of  (say)  four  years,  subject  to  removal  for 
bad  behavior  only ;  the  election  of  postmasters  by 
the  people,  and  the  abolition  of  internal  revenue 
collectors  and  assessors  altogether,  and  the  selling 
of  all  the  necessary  stamps  by  postmasters  (some 
thing  which  the  President  has  favored);  and  it  is 
likely  that  some  or  all  of  these  additional  measures 


232  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

will  have  to  be  resorted  to  before  the  serpent  is 
scotched  altogether.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
President  is  in  earnest  in  his  devotion  to  this  re 
form  ;  and  doubtless  the  reason  why  he  has  moved 
with  moderate  pace  in  it  is  because  he  has  seen 
that  the  people,  and  especially  Congress,  had  not 
yet  fairly  waked  up  to  it  until  quite  recently. 

SKEPTICS    AND    REACTIONISTS. 

There  are  still  some  public  men  of  both  parties, 
who  affect  to  distrust  the  possibility  of  any  valuable 
reform  of  the  service  through  the  means  indicated 
in  the  foregoing  paragraphs.  The  Advisory  Board 
they  characterize  as  "schoolmasters"  and  the  regu 
lations  for  examination  and  probation  are,  they 
charge,  but  so  many  devices  for  preferring  a  few 
dry-veined  bookworms  before  men  of  practical 
acumen,  in  the  assignment  of  candidates  to  places. 
They  have  also  some  cant  to  utter  about  these  reg 
ulations  being  an  insult  to  the  intelligence  of  the 
American  people ;  but  just  where  the  "insult"  comes 
in,  when,  in  truth,  the  whole  system  is  intended  to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  people  against  the  ra 
pacity  of  the  politicians,  would,  perhaps,  puzzle 
the  reactionists  to  point  out.  The  Republican 
party  has  now,  through  its  legally  constituted  dele 
gates  in  national  convention,  approved  of  the  re 
form,  and  no  good  Republican  Congressman  can 
rightfully  refuse  to  give  his  co-operation.  The 
people  should  see  to  it  in  the  pending  campaign, 
that  the  genius  of  real  civil  service  reform  prevails, 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  233 

both  at  the  primaries  and  at  the  polls ;  that  the 
management  of  the  former  is  not  relegated  to  men 
who  work  for  pay  promised  them  by  candidates,  in 
the  shape  of  postoffices  and  assessorships ;  and 
that  all  candidates  who  attempt  to  forward  their 
own  chances  'in  such  a  way  are  left  at  home,  and 
not  sent  to  Washington  to  corrupt  our  legislation. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  POLICY  TOWARD  THE  SOUTH. 

General  Grant's  policy  toward  the  reconstructed 
States  has  been  a  liberal  and  a  careful  one.  Real 
izing  that  pacification  and  reconciliation  were  the 
great  requisites  of  those  communities,  he  has  en 
deavored  to  stimulate  loyalty  among  the  lately  dis 
loyal,  and  industry  and  development  among  the 
great  mass  of  blacks  lately  endowed  with  the  pow 
ers  of  citizenship.  And  it  has  also  been  the  aim  of 
the  administration  to  protect  both  of  these  classes, 
so  far  as  they  would  allow  it,  from  the  effects  of 
their  own  extremism,  as  shown  in  the  surrender  of 
most  of  the  State  governments  to  adroit,  but  un 
principled  "carpet-baggers."  President  Grant  has 
watched  with  favorable  interest  all  measures  for  the 
education  of  the  negro  race,  and  was,  in  fact,  the 
original  proposer  of  the  plan  embodied  in  the  bill 
of  Congressman  Hoar,  passed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  last  session,  and  intended  especially 
for  the  benefit  of  the  South.  This  bill  proposed 
to  divide  in  proportion  to  the  illiteracy  of  the  re 
spective  States  the  proceeds  of  all  public  lands 
sold  hereafter. 


234  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

AMNESTY. 

The  magnanimity  which  Grant  as  a  conquering: 
general  showed  to  Lee  and  his  troops  at  Appomat- 
tox,  has  distinguished  his  demeanor  toward  them 
and  their  sympathizers  since.  He  has,  from  time 
to  time,  proposed  measures  of  amnesty  to  the  Reb 
els  still  left  more  or  less  under  the  political  ban 
(none  are  absolutely  disfranchised) ;  and  last  De 
cember  he  sent  this  recommendation  to  Congress: 

"More  than  six  years  having  elapsed  since  the  last  hostile  gun  was  fired 
between  the  armies  then  arrayed  against  each  other, — one  for  the  perpetua 
tion,  the  other  for  the  destruction,  of  the  Union, — it  may  well  be  considered 
whether  it  is  not  now  time  that  the  disabilities  imposed  by  the  fourteenth 
amendment  should  be  removed.  That  amendment  does  not  exclude  the 
ballot,  but  only  imposes  the  disability  to  hold  office  upon  certain  classes. 
When  the  purity  of  the  ballot  is  secure,  majorities  are  sure  to  elect  officers 
reflecting  the  views  of  the  majority.  I  do  not  see  the  advantage  or  propri 
ety  of  excluding  men  from  office  merely  because  they  were,  before  the  rebel 
lion,  of  standing  and  character  sufficient  to  be  elected  to  positions  requiring 
them  to  take  oaths  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  admitting  to  eligibility 
those  entertaining  precisely  the  same  views,  but  of  less  standing  in  their  com 
munities.  It  may  be  said  that  the  former  violated  an  oath,  while  the  latter 
did  not.  The  latter  did  not  have  it  in  their  power  to  do  so.  If  they  had 
taken  this  oath,  it  cannot  be  doubted  they  would  have  broken  it,  as  did  the 
former  class.  If  there  are  any  great  criminals,  distinguished  above  all  others 
for  the  part  they  took  in  opposition  to  the  Government,  they  might,  in  the 
judgment  of  Congress,  be  excluded  from  such  an  amnesty.  This  subject  is 
submitted  for  your  careful  consideration. 

"The  condition  of  the  Southern  States  is,  unhappily,  not  .such  as  all  true, 
patriotic  citizens  would  like  to  see.  Social  ostracism  for  opinion's  sake,  per 
sonal  violence  or  threats  towards  persons  entertaining  political  views  opposed 
to  those  entertained  by  the  majority  of  the  old  citizens,  prevent  immigration 
and  the  flow  of  much  needed  capital  into  the  States  lately  in  rebellion.  It  wiD 
be  a  happy  condition  of  the  country  when  the  old  citizens  of  these  States 
will  take  an  interest  in  public  affairs,  promulgate  ideas  honestly  entertained, 
vote  for  men  representing  their  views,  and  tolerate  the  same  freedom  of  ex 
pression  and  ballot  in  those  entertaining  different  political  convictions." 

This  is  plain  language,  and  as  liberal  in  sentiment 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  235 

as  the  most  advanced  of  the  so-called  liberals  can 
boast,  and  yet  the  loyal  men  of  th'e  country  will 
feel  far  safer  in  seeing  such  precepts  carried  out 
under  the  administration  of  one  who  has  displayed 
always  a  nice  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  both 
races  of  the  South,  than  under  one  who  proposes 
to  sail  into  the  White  House  upon  a  breeze  which 
blows  only  in  behalf  of  the  old  Rebel  element  at 
the  South,  and  a  popularity  which  results  from  his 
favoring  Secession  and  bailing  Jeff.  Davis. 

Congress  heeded  the  recommendation  of  Presi 
dent  Grant,  and  passed  several  amnesty  bills,  in  a 
single  one  of  which  about  25,000  Rebels  were  re 
admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  includ 
ing  office-holding. 

Grant's  record  on  Amnesty  is  such,  in  short,  as 
to  make  him  much  stronger  in  the  South  than  his 
principal  adversary  in  this  contest ;  though  not,  per 
haps  with  the  old  political  class  of  Rebels,  who 
seem  fully  as  blind  now  as  they  did  in  1860  and 
1 86 1.  With  the  Confederate  soldiers,  who  fought 
nobly  for  what  they  were  taught  to  believe  was 
their  country,  it  will  doubtless  be  otherwise ;  and 
as  for  the  Blacks,  who  constitute  a  majority  in  the 
South,  not  one  in  ten  of  them  is  going  to  be  be 
guiled  into  voting  for  the  candidate  of  the  Demo 
cracy,  especially  if  it  be  Greeley.  They  regard 
Grant  as  next  to  Lincoln,  their  deliver ;  and  of 
Greeley  they  say,  "  If  he  had  had  his  say  in  '60  and 
'6 1,  and  you'd  let  de  Southern  States,  depart  in 
peace,'  den  we'd  done  been  slaves  to-day,  shuh, 


236  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '/2. 

No,  we  can't  go  for  Mr.  Greeley."     And  their  logic 
has  common  sense  in  it,  as  negro  logic  usually  has. 

THE  TREATY  WITH  ENGLAND. 

The  foreign  policy  of  President  Grant  has  been 
one  of  peace.  In  one  of  his  messages,  he  says, 
"As  the  United  States  is  the  freest  of  all  nations, 
so,  too,  the  people  sympathize  with  all  peoples 
struggling  for  liberty  and  self-government.  But 
while  so  sympathizing,"  he  adds,  "  it  is  due  to  our 
honor  that  we  should  abstain  from  enforcing  our 
views  upon  unwilling  nations  and  taking  an  inter 
ested  part  without  invitation  in  the  quarrels  be 
tween  different  nations,  or  between  governments 
and  their  subjects."  This  principle — an  old  maxim 
with  the  American  government — is  the  President's 
answer  to  those  feverish,  fretful  newspaper  organs 
in  New  York,  which  have  always  (apparently  in  the 
interest  of  some  speculators  in  Cuban  Republic 
bonds)  been  teasing  the  Government  to  interfere 
with  Cuban  affairs,  and  bring  on  a  war  with  Spain. 
It  is  also  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  President's 
prompt  interference  to  check  the  irruption  of  Feni 
ans  from  our  borders  upon  British  soil  in  1869. 
The  President  himself  came  near  forgetting  it  in 
the  case  of  Baez,  Cabral  and  the  Haytien  govern 
ment,  where  the  cause  of  the  first-named  chieftain 
promised  soon  to  become  our  own  cause,  through 
annexation ;  but  he  recollected  himself  in  time  to 
save  his  record  in  this  respect. 

The  principal  matter  of  foreign  policy  with  which 


.  CHARLES  SUM 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  239 

General  Grant's  administration  has  had  to  do,  how 
ever,  is  the  negotiation  of  the  much-talked-about 
treaty  with  England,  intended  to  bring  about  a 
settlement,  without  bloodshed,  of  four  questions 
which  had  long  vexed  the  diplomacy  of  the  two 
nations.  These  were  : 

1.  The  claims  alleged  against  Great  Britain,  by 
reason  of  the  Rebel  privateers  fitted  out  in  British 
ports,  and  known  as  the  "Alabama  Claims." 

2.  The  question  of  Fishermen's  rights  along  the 
Banks  of  New  Foundland,  there  being  an  old  dis 
pute  as  to  how  near  to  the  Canadian  shore  Ameri 
can  fishermen  were,  by  former  treaties,  entitled  to 
approach. 

3.  The  navigation  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  other 
navigable  waters  lying  within  either  government's 
territory,  by  the  navy  and  merchant  marine  of  the 
other. 

4.  The  location  of  the  San  Juan  boundary  (be 
tween  Washington  Territory  and   British  Colum 
bia.) 

To  arrange  for  the  settlement  of  these  questions 
a  Joint  High  Commission  was  appointed  by  the 
two  governments  and  assembled  at  Washington  in 
February,  1871,  completing  its  labors  on  the  8th 
of  May,  when  the  treaty  of  Washington  was  signed 
by  the  members  of  the  Commission.  The  treaty 
was  ratified  June  i7th,  1871.  (An  abstract  of  all 
its  important  provisions,  together  with  some  inter 
esting  papers  bearing  upon  the  question  before  the 


240  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

Geneva  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  is  given  in  the  ap 
pendix  to  this  volume.) 

The  third  of  the  questions  referred  to  above  was 
settled  by  the  treaty  itself  and  confirmed  by  the 
action. of  the  Canadian  Parliament.  The  first  was 
made  the  subject  of  a  special  commission,  which  has 
not  yet  concluded  its  labors.  The  fourth  was  re 
ferred  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany  as  arbitrator, 
and  his  decision  was,  at  the  writing  of  this,  about  to  be 
promulgated.  The  first  question  is  the  only  one  about 
which  there  has  been  any  national  soreness,  and 
this  chiefly  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  the  peo 
ple  of  which  country  seem  less  able  than  their  liberal 
statesmen  to  "put  themselves  in  our  place,"  in  con 
sidering  such  a  question.  On  the  first  session  of 
the  Tribunal  of  Geneva,  in  December,  1871,  it  was 
found  that  the  counsel  on  our  part,  J.  C.  Bancroft 
Davis,  Esq.,  had  filed  claims  for  indirect  damages 
growing  out  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Confeder 
ate  cruisers  on  the  high  seas  after  the  last  aggres 
sive  movements  of  the  Rebel  land  forces  at  Gettys 
burg;  "indirect  damages"  meaning  the  general  ex 
pense  of  prolonging  the  war,  the  loss  to  individu 
als  by  enhanced  insurance,  the  loss  to  the  nation 
by  the  transfer  of  her  shipping  to  foreign  flags,  etc. 
This  order  of  claims  was  so  stoutly  resisted  by 
Great  Britain  (she  claiming  that  they  were  ruled 
out  by  the  treaty  and  protocol),  that  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  Tribunal  were  interrupted,  and  a  long 
correspondence  commenced  between  Earl  Gran- 
ville,  the  British  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  24! 

Secretary  of  State,  Fish,  on  behalf  of  our  Govern 
ment,  relative  to  the  adoption  of  an  understanding 
on  which  we  could  proceed  with  the  arbitration. 
This  correspondence,  commencing  February  3d, 
1872,  with  a  letter  of  remonstrance  from  Earl  Gran- 
ville  to  Mr.  Fish,  is  very  voluminous,  and  in  it  ev 
ery  position  is  contested,  as  it  were,  inch  by  inch, 
by  the  two  diplomats ;  but  the  tone  is  remarkably 
deferential  throughout,  indicating  a  determination 
on  the  part  of  both  governments  not  to  sacrifice 
the  opportunity  of  settling  the  misunderstanding 
by  peaceful  arbitration. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  it  was  apparent  from 
General  Schenck's  telegram  to  Secretary  Fish  that 
the  British  Government  had  determined  to  repudi 
ate  the  Treaty.  On  the  27th,  however,  Secretary 
Fish  had  received  from  Sir  Edward  Thornton, 
British  Minister  at  Washington,  a  hint  that  the 
British  Government  would  be  glad  to  consent  to  a 
supplemental  article  disposing  of  the  claims  upon 
neutrals  for  Consequential  Damages  by  excluding 
them  forever  from  consideration  between  the  two 
nations,  and  of  course  directing  their  withdrawal  in 
this  present  case.  This  was  agreeable  to  our  Gov 
ernment,  since  the  United  States  is  usually  a  neu 
tral  power,  and  hence  the  one  most  likely  to  suffer 
from  a  liability  to  such  enormous  claims. 

In  accordance  with  the  proposition  which  was 
further  elaborated  and  discussed  in  a  score  of  com 
munications  by  cable  which  passed  between  the  25th 
of  April  and  the  loth  of  May,  1871,  such  a  sup- 


242  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  72. 

plemental  article  was   presented  to  the  American 
Senate,  and  approved  by  that  body. 

Concerning  the  wording  of  the  supplemental 
article  proposed  by  Great  Britain  and  assented  to 
by  the  United  States,  with  certain  slight  verbal  al 
terations,  there  was  again  a  vast  amount  of  corres 
pondence  and  discussion.  The  British  Parliament, 
especially,  became  greatly  agitated  over  the  subject, 
and  the  British  Government  began  to  display  much 
more  deference  to  the  clamor  of  the  Tories  than  it 
had  done  heretofore.  As  a  consequence,  the 
Treaty  would  soon  have  failed,  through  the  with 
drawal  of  Great  Britain  from  the  negotiations  (our 
Government  having  refused  to  higgle  any  longer 
over  mere  sentimentalities)  had  not  the  Tribunal, 
at  its  session  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  announced 
its  decision  adversely  to  any  claims  for  indirect 
damages,  and  thereby  at  once  relieved  the  fearful 
forebodings  of  John  Bull  and  done  away  with  the 
supplemental  article  which  had  been  the  bone  of 
contention  for  the  past  two  months.  It  is  now  be 
lieved  that  the  upshot  of  the  proceedings  will  be 
to  award  the  United  States  justice  in  the  matter 
of  the  Alabama  Claims  ;  and  at  the  same  time  very 
beneficial  results  will  be  obtained  from  the  enforce 
ment  of  other  provisions  of  the  Treaty,  and  a  la 
mentable  war  with  Great  Britain,  which  seemed  to 
have  been  long  culminating  and  threatening,  be 
avoided.  If  so,  this  negotiation  of  the  Treaty  of 
Washington,  with  its  advantages,  if  any,  on  our 
side,  as  everybody  says,  especially  in  Europe,  will 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  243 

be  among  the  greenest  laurels  of  President  Grant's 
administration. 

GRANT'S  INDIAN  POLICY. 

President  Grant  is  generally  credited,  and  justly, 
with  having  inaugurated  a  very  successful  and 
beneficent  policy  toward  our  Indian  wards,  in  the 
plains  and  mountains  of  the  West.  When  Grant 
came  into  office,  the  Indian  Bureau  was  still,  what 
it  had  long  been,  a  slough  of  political  mire,  breed 
ing,  pecuniary  corruption.  It  was  the  home  of  job 
bery  and  peculation,  and  lo  !  the  poor  Indian  had  to 
stand  the  victim  of  it  all.  Cheated  by  one  agent 
and  pampered  by  another,  his  natural  vindictive- 
ness,  quarrelsomeness  and  recklessness  were  in 
flamed  still  more  by  his  treatment,  and  hence  we 
heard  of  massacres  upon  the  border,  and  of  fre 
quent  ruptures  of  our  relations  with  these  savage 
tribes,  which  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Government 
to  treat  as  distinct  nations.  At  the  same  time  we 
were  failing  utterly  to  reclaim  the  unfortunate  sav 
ages  from  the  low  condition  of  their  birth. 

General  Grant  undertook  to  reform  some  of 
these  things.  His  idea  was  that  some  of  the  Red 
Men,  nearly  civilized,  and  others  favorably  disposed 
that  way,  could,  by  careful  teaching  and  exclusion 
from  bad  influences,  be  hastened  on  the  road  to 
enlightenment  and  Christianization ;  that  others, 
like  the  Apaches  and  Piegans,  too  debased  in  the 
scale  of  being  to  be  wrought  upon  in  this  way, 
could  best  be  held  in  their  places  by  a  firm  hand, 


244  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

wielded  by  the  War  Department;  while  others, 
like  the  Sioux,  intelligent,  but  warlike  and 
intractable  must  be  handled  with  gentle  firmness- 
treated  with  through  a  peace  commission  backed 
up  by  a  division  of  cavalry  ;  and  all  were  alike  sus 
ceptible  to  the  influence  of  honest  dealing  and  uni 
form  treatment.  General  Grant,  having  had  con 
siderable  experience  with  the  Indians  himself,  and 
having  noticed  the  success  of  the  missionaries  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  in  dealing  with  the  Red 
Men,  appointed  several  members  of  that  society  to  be 
superintendents  and  agents  at  the  Indian  posts.  At 
the  same  time  he  invited  the  other  religious  denom 
inations  to  name  candidates  for  whose  character  as 
humane  and  honest  men  they  could  vouch ;  and 
these  recommendations  were  also  heeded  in  the 
appointment  of  Indian  officers.  A  general  Peace 
Commission  was  also  appointed  shortly  after  the 
accession  of  Grant  to  the  Presidency,  consisting  of 
George  H.  Stuart,  Felix  R.  Brunot,  Wm.  Welsh, 
Wm.  E.  Dodge,  E.  S.  Tobey,  John  V.  Farwell,  Rob 
ert  Campbell,  Henry  S.  Lane,  and  Nathan  Bishop. 
(John  DeLang  and  Vincent  Collyer  have  since 
been  substituted  for  Messrs.  Welsh  and  Lane.)  It 
has  been  the  duty  of  this  commission  to  visit  tur 
bulent  tribes,  ascertain  what  is  their  grievance,  and, 
if  possible,  remedy  it.  The  members,  who  are  all 
eminent  Christians  and  philanthropists,  labor  gra 
tuitously  for  the  sake  of  humanity;  and  their 
efforts  have  been  crowned  with  so  great  success 
that  the  Government  has  had,  comparatively,  no 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  245 

trouble  with  the  intelligent  tribes,  while  the  Indi 
ans  themselves  have  suffered  far  less  from  bad  man 
agement  than  heretofore.  Their  latest  report  (for 
the  year  1871)  bears  this  testimony  to  the  success 
of  the  peace  policy : 

THE    PEACE    POLICY ITS    ADVANTAGES. 

"  Increased  experience  in  dealing  with  the  Indians 
only  tends  to  confirm  the  board  more  and  more  in 
the  wisdom  of  the  policy  of  peace  so  uniformly  ad 
vocated  by  the  President,  and  supported  by  the 
liberality  of  Congress  and  the  humane  sympathies 
of  the  people ;  and  the  board  confidently  look  for 
ward  to  the  day  when  the  bitterness  which  now  as 
sails  this  policy  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States, 
where  it  is  least  understood,  will  fill  a  page  in  his 
tory  as  unnatural  and  curious  as  that  which  records 
the  old  hatred  against  freedom  and  the  friends  of 
the  slave." 

The  policy  of  confining'the  tribes  strictly  to  their 
own  reservations,  and  protecting  them  in  the  undis 
turbed  possession  of  those  reservations,  is  also  a 
characteristic  of  the  present  Administration  ;  and 
it  is  unquestionably  an  indispensable  prerequisite 
of  peace.  Another  innovation  upon  past  practices, 
and  one  calculated  to  render  the  Indians  more  do 
mestic  and  industrious,  is  the  plan  of  subdividing 
their  reservations  into  individual  "  eighties" — some 
heads  of  families  thus  getting  several  quarter-sections 
of  land.  This  is  done  in  the  case  of  those  (like  the 
Creeks,  Choctaws,  etc.)  manifesting  any  disposition 
favorable  to  husbandry. 


246  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

But  while  holding  out  the  olive-branch  of  peace 
to  the  red  men,  as  our  humane  instincts  tell  us 
should  be  done,  we  all  know  that  olive-branches 
will  not  do  the  business  with  all  Indians  and  on  all 
occasions.  When  the  sword  has  been  found  to  be 
necessary,  General  Grant  has  applied  it  vigorously. 
The  very  silly  efforts  made  in  behalf  of  certain 
treacherous  and  bloody  Apaches  by  Vincent  Colyer, 
an  over-sentimental  member  of  the  Peace  Com 
mission,  have  apparently  ceased  to  have  any  weight 
at  Washington,  and  orders  have  now  been  issued 
to  General  Crook,  who  commands  our  troops  in 
Arizona,  and  who  understands  the  weaknesses  of 
the  Apache  creatures,  to  proceed  with  them  thor 
oughly  and  teach  them  a  good  lesson.  The  Sioux 
tribes,  to  the  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
inhabiting  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone,  have  also 
threatened  to  become  belligerent,  on  account  of 
the  projection  of  the  Northern  Pacific  road  across 
the  Northern  limits  of  their  allotted  domain.  To 
these  went  recently  General  B.  R.  Cowen,  Assist 
ant  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  other  able  men, 
composing  a  Commission ;  and  it  is  certain  that  if 
the  Sioux  malcontents  refuse  to  listen  to  the  argu 
ments  and  remonstrances  of  these  men,  they  will 
smell  powder  promptly.  The  administration  evi 
dently  realizes  that ;  while  you  may  well  give  the 
Indian  to  understand  that  you  love  him  and  care 
for  him,  it  will  not  on  any  account  do  to  have  him 
understand  that  you  fear  him,  or  will  yield  to  him 
when  he  makes  a  threat  of  force. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GRANT  AS  PRESIDENT. 

(CONTINUED.) 

Grant  and  the  Workingmen — Grant  and  Education — The  Postal  Telegraph 
System — Grant  and  the  Colored  Race — Down  with  Polygamy — Grant  the 
Immigrant's  Friend — Messages  in  their  Behalf — Rights  of  Naturalized 
Citizens — The  Houard  Hubbub — Grant  and  San  Domingo — How  would 
Greeley  have  Worked  it  ? — Grant  and  the  Veto  Power — Legislative  Job 
bery — Sumner's  Vile  Insinuations — Is  the  White  House  a  Military  Head 
quarters? — Sumner  Put  Down  with  a  Plain  Tale — Greeley's  .Tributes  to 
Grant. 

GRANT  AND  THE  WORKINGMEN. 

President  Grant  has  not  the  special  reputation 
as  the  workingman's  friend  which  is  enjoyed  by 
his  companion  upon  the  National  Republican  tick 
et.  He  is  evidently  a  friend  of  the  laborer,  but 
does  not  "  howl  about  it,"  like  some  public  men  so 
licitous  of  votes.  It  is  very  cheap  to  declaim  a  lit 
tle  in  behalf  of  the  workingman,  and  then  to  go 
off  and  let  him  get  his  rights  the  best  way  he  can. 
Grant  talks  but  little  in  any  behalf,  yet  he  never 
has  written  a  message  without  finding  space  for  a 
word  in  behalf  of  labor.  Here  are  extracts  which 
show  either  that  Grant  is  a  statesman  of  compre 
hensive  glance,  or  else  that  he  has  not  forgotten 
the  days  when  he  was  a  working,  studying  tanner : 

15  (247) 


248  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

"By  the  late  war,  the  industry  of  one-half  of  the  country  had  been  taken 
from  the  control  of  the  capitalists  and  placed  where  all  labor  rightfully  be 
longs — in  the  keeping  of  the  laborer." 

"  The  opinion  that  the  public  lands  should  be  regarded  chiefly  as  a  source 
of  revenue  is  no  longer  maintained.  The  rapid  settlement  and  successful 
cultivation  of  them  are  now  justly  considered  of  more  importance  to  our 
well-being  than  is  the  fund  which  the  sale  of  them  would  produce.  The  re 
markable  growth  and  prosperity  of  our  new  States  and  Territories  attest  the 
wisdom  of  the  legislation  which  invites  the  tiller  of  the  soil  to  secure  a  per 
manent  home  on  terms  within  the  reach  of  all.  The  pioneer  who  incurs  the 
dangers  and  privations  of  a  frontier  life,  and  thus  aids  in  laying  the  founda 
tion  of  new  commonwealths,  renders  a  signal  service  to  his  country,  and  is 
entitled  to  its  special  favor  and  protection.  These  laws  secure  that  object, 
and  largely  promote  the  general  welfare.  They  should,  therefore,  be  cher 
ished  as  a  permanent  feature  of  our  land  system." 

"I  renew  my  recommendation  that  the  public  lands  be  regarded  as  a  her 
itage  to  our  children,  to  be  disposed  of  only  as  required  for  occupation  and 
to  actual  settlers." 

"The  true  prosperity  and  greatness  of  a  nation  is  to  be  found  in  the  eleva 
tion  and  education  of  its  laborers." 

Nor  does  Grant  stop  with  saying  to  the  work 
ingmen,  "  Be  ye  warmed  and  filled."  A  few  weeks 
ago  a  deputation  of  carpenters  from  New  York- 
employed  there  upon  the  Government  buildings- 
waited  upon  him  at  the  White  House.  He  listened 
to  their  requests,  which  were  for  a  shortening  of 
the  hours  of  their  labor.  An  act  of  Congress  pro 
vided  for  this,  and  the  President  lost  no  time  in 
seeing  that  the  workingmen  were  endowed  with  all 
the  rights  to  which  they  were  entitled  under  it.  It 
is,  doubtless,  his  fidelity  to  their  interests  in  several 
instances  like  this,  as  also  his  steady  hand  at  the 
helm,  which  keeps  the  ship  of  State  well  righted 
and  all  her  crew  safe  and  comfortable,  which  makes 
the  workingmen  of  the  country  so  zealous  and  unan 
imous  for  Grant  and  Wilson — a  ticket  put  in  nom 
ination  by  their  organization  at  New  York. 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  249 


EDUCATION. 

Popular  education  and  the  elevation  of  labor  go 
hand  in  hand — a  truism  which  the  President  has 
referred  to  in  some  of  the  extracts  already  quoted. 
But  he  has  not  stopped  with  "offering  a  few  re 
marks"  concerning  the  importance  of  education. 
He  has  proposed  a  definite  measure  of  practical 
utility,  in  extending  the  blessings  of  learning — the 
plan  of  dividing  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  pub 
lic  lands,  already  referred  to  in  the  paragraph  refer 
ring  to  the  policy  toward  the  South. 

POSTAL    TELEGRAPH. 

Allied  to  this  subject  in  interest  is  the  postal 
telegraph  scheme,  which  is  rather  likely  to  come 
into  operation  on  some  scale  or  other,  and  under 
government  patronage,  before  another  year  elapses. 

The  privilege  of  rapid  communication  without 
the  burden  of  an  enormous  tax  for  the  nourish 
ment  of  giant  monopolies,  is  one  of  the  essential 
concomitants  of  our  civilization.  It  is  enjoyed  by 
nearly  every  prosperous  European  people,  and 
must  not  be  much  longer  withheld  from  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  The  adoption  of  postal  tel 
egraphy  by  our  Government  has  for  some  time  en 
listed  the  sympathy  and  the  effort  of  President 
Grant ;  and  it  should  now,  if  he  be  at  all  interested 
in  self,  engage  him  all  the  more,  since  one  of  the 
earliest  effects  of  a  nearly  free  government  tele 
graph  would  be  to  break  down  a  monopoly  in  tele- 


250  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

graph  news  which  has  enabled  four  or  five  bloated 
newspaper  corporations  to  control  certain  strata 
of  public  opinion  as  despotically  as  the  Khan  of 
Tartary  controls  his  subjects,  and  to  use  such  con 
trol  for  the  one  grand  purpose  of  disparaging  Grant 
and  the  Republican  party.  Fortified  in  the  strength 
which  their"  monopoly  of  news  gives  them,  these 
four  or  five  corporations  command  the  public  ear — 
not  win  it  by  fair  competition — and  being  respon 
sible  to  nobody,  use  their  power  solely  for  their 
own  private  ends.  They  are  the  least  democratic 
institution  in  the  country ;  and  a  popularization  of 
the  telegraph,  through  the  Government's  efforts,  is 
therefore  needed  in  the  interest  of  pure  Republi 
canism. 

GRANT   AND    THE    NEGROES. 

There  has  been  a  feeble  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
dectractors  of  President  Grant,  especially  since  they 
set  up  a  candidate  of  their  own  for  whom  they 
hoped  to  attract  some  of  the  colored  vote,  to  be 
little  Grant's  work  for  the  colored  race.  This  ef 
fort  has  already  failed,  and  the  shafts  of  detraction 
have  fallen  harmless ;  for  it  has  been  shown  by  the 
record  that  Grant  has  been  a  true  friend  of  the 
colored  race;  that  he  was  active  in  their  behalf 
long  before  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  of  Lin 
coln  was  issued ;  and  that  his  course  toward  that 
people  has  been  one  of  uniform  and  intelligent 
friendship.  It  will  be  referred  to  more  in  detail  in 
a  subsequent  chapter. 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  251 

PURSUING    POLYGAMY. 

The  remaining  one  of  those  "  twin  relics  of  bar 
barism,"  slavery  and  polygamy,  still  curses  a  single 
territory  of  the  Union.  But  its  days  are  num 
bered  ;  and  General  Grant,  who  evidently  feels 
deeply  the  scandal  and  reproach  upon  our  insti 
tutions,  can  comfort  himself  with  a  record  on  his 
own  part,  which  has  exhausted  all  the  legitimate 
powers  of  the  Executive  office  in  the  effort  to  root 
out  the  evil.  His  appointees  to  federal  office  in 
Utah  have,  unlike  the  most  of  their  predecessors, 
been  staunch  opponents  of  polygamy,  refusing  to 
yield  to  the  blandishments  which  have  been  thrown 
around  them  by  the  wily  monarch  of  Mormondom. 
His  judicial  officers — one  of  them  at  least — may  be 
charged  with  going  a  step  beyond  the  bounds  of 
judicial  propriety  in  his  attempt  to  throttle  the 
monster  of  Polygamy.  The  attempt  was  worthy, 
so  far  as  the  motive  was  concerned  ;  but  the  method 
formed  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  when  the  Presi 
dent  was  asked  to  back  it  up  by  the  interference  of 
the  strong  Executive  arm,  he  declined.  It  is  a 
curious  fact,  however,  that  the  Chicago  Tribune— 
one  of  the  journals  which  howls  loudest  about  fed 
eral  usurpation  and  arbitrary  government — was 
continually  urging  on  the  Administration  at 
Washington,  and  Judge  McKeon  at  Salt  Lake,  to 
acts  unquestionably  despotic,  arbitrary  and  uncon 
stitutional.  It  is  tolerably  certain,  however,  that 
without  such  acts,  and  the  demoralizing  effects  sure 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

to  follow  them,  the  extermination  of  the  vice  of 
Polygamy  will  be  accomplished  within  General 
Grant's  second  term.  If  so,  it  will  be  due  to  the 
Pacific  Railroad — a  Republican  measure  ;  the  gene 
ral  statute  against  Polygamy — another  Republican 
measure ;  and  the  staunch  anti-barbarism  and  in 
corruptibility  of  President  Grant's  appointees  to 
the  Territorial  offices. 

GRANT    AND    THE    IMMIGRANTS. 

President  Grant  has  interested  himself,  ever  since 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  the  Presidency,  in  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  immigrants  to  our 
shores.  The  abuses  which  have  been  practiced  upon 
these  people  have  been  manifold,  whether  on  ship 
board  or  at  Castle  Garden,  where  they  are  landed 
and  forwarded  to  their  destinations.  The  Presi 
dent  has  been  prevented  from  doing  much  in  their 
behalf,  however,  for  these  reasons;  that  for  the 
abuses  on  ship-board,  co-operation  with  foreign  na 
tions  is  necessary;  while  the  Castle  Garden  dis 
tributing  establishment  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  sovereign  State  of  New  York.  The  President 
has  been  active  in  his  endeavors  to  make  practical 
some  reform.  He  gave  Congress,  in  his  first  an 
nual  message,  the  following  account  of  what  had 
been  done  by  himself  in  co-operation  with  the  heads 
of  other  governments,  from  whose  points  the  imi- 
grant  vessels  principally  sail : 

"  On  the  accession  of  the  present  Administration,  it  wa.s  found  that  the 
minister  for  North  Germany  had  made  propositions  for  the  negotiation  of  a 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  253 

convention  for  the  protection  of  emigrant  passengers,  to  which  no  response 
had  been  given.  It  was  concluded  that,  to  be  effectual,  all  the  maritime 
Powers  engaged  in  the  trade  should  join  in  such  a  measure.  Invitations  have 
been  extended  to  the  cabinets  of  London,  Paris,  Florence,  Berlin,  Brussels, 
The  Hague,  Copenhagen,  and  Stockholm,  to  empower  their  representatives 
at  Washington  to  simultaneously  enter  into  negotiations,  and  to  conclude 
with  the  United  States,  conventions  identical  in  form,  making  uniform  regu- 
ations  as  to  the  construction  of  the  parts  of  vessels  to  be  devoted  to  the  use 
of  emigrant  passengers,  as  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of  food,  as  to  the 
medical  treatment  of  the  sick,  and  as  to  the  rules  to  be  observed  during  the 
voyage,  in  order  to  secure  ventilation,  to  promote  health,  to  prevent  intrusion, 
and  to  protect  the  females,  and  providing  for  the  establishment  of  tribunals 
in  the  several  countries,  for  enforcing  such  regulations  by  summary  process." 

In  his  message  to  the  Forty- Second  Congress  at 
its  last  session,  he  continued  to  agitate  this  subject, 
the  following  paragraph : 

"  The  number  of  immigrants  ignorant  of  our  laws,  habits,  etc.,  coming  into 
our  country  annually  has  become  so  great,  and  the  impositions  practiced  upon 
them  so  numerous  and  flagrant,  that  I  suggest  Congressional  action  for  their 
protection.  It  seems  to  me  a  fair  subject  of  legislation  by  Congress.  I  can 
not  now  state  as  fully  as  I  desire  the  nature  of  the  complaints  made  by  im 
migrants  of  the  treatment  they  receive,  but  will  endeavor  to  do  so  during 
the  session  of  Congress,  particularly  if  the  subject  should  receive  your 
attention." 

And  this  was  followed  up  on  May  14  by  a  special 
message,  in  which  the  President  wrote  these  earnest, 
philanthropic  words : 

"In  my  message  to  Congress,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  session,  allu 
sion  was  made  to  the  hardships  and  privations  inflicted  on  poor  emigrants  on 
board  ship  and  upon  their  arrival  on  our  shores,  and  a  suggestion  was  made 
favoring  national  legislation  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  radical  cure  of  the 
evil.  Promise  was  made  that  a  special  message  on  this  subject  would  be 
presented  during  the  present  session,  should  information  be  received  which 
would  warrant  it.  I  now  transmit  to  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  all  that 
has  been  officially  received  since  that  time  bearing  on  the  subject,  and  rec 
ommend  that  such  legislation  be  had  as  will  secure — 

"First,  Such  room  and  accommodation  on  shipboard  as  as  is  necessary  for 
health  and  comfort,  and  such  privacy  as  will  not  compel  immigrants  to  be 
unwilling  witnesses  to  so  much  vice  and  misery  ;  and,  Second,  Legislation  to 


254  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

protect  them  on  their  arrival  at  our  seaports  from  knaves  who  are  ever  ready 
to  dispoil  them  of  the  little  they  are  able  to  bring  with  them. 

"Such  legislation  will  be  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  and  seems  to  be  fully 
justifiable.  An  immigrant  is  not  a  citizen  of  any  State  or  Territory  on  his 
arrival,  but  comes  here  to  become  a  citizen  of  our  great  republic,  free  to 
change  his  residence  at  will,  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  a  protecting  govern 
ment,  where  all  are  equal  before  the  law,  and  to  add  to  the  national  wealth 
by  his  industry.  On  his  arrival  he  does  not  know  States  or  corporations, 
but  confides  implicitly  in  the  protecting  arm  of  the  great  free  country  of 
which  he  has  heard  so  much  before  leaving  his  native  land. 

"It  is  a  source  of  serious  disappointment  and  discouragement  to  those  who 
start  with  means  insufficient  to  support  them  comfortably  until  they  can 
choose  a  residence  and  begin  employment  for  a  comfortable  support,  to  find 
themselves  subject  to  ill  treatment  and  every  discomfort  on  their  passage 
here,  and  at  the  end  of  their  journey  seized  on  by  professed  friends,  claiming 
the  legal  right  to  take  charge  of  them  for  their  protection,  who  do  not  leave 
them  until  all  their  resources  are  exhausted,  when  they  are  abandoned  in  a 
strange  land,  surrounded  by  strangers,  without  employment,  and  ignorant  of 
the  means  of  securing  it.  Under  the  present  system  this  is  the  fate  of  thou 
sands  annually.  The  exposures  on  shipboard  and  the  treatment  on  landing 
is  driving  thousands  to  lives  of  vice  and  shame  who,  with  proper  humane 
treatment,  might  become  useful  and  respectable  members  of  society. 

"I  do  not  advise  national  legislation  in  affairs  that  should  be  regulated  by 
the  States,  but  I  see  no  subject  more  national  in  its  character  than  provision 
for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  thousands  who  leave  foreign  lands  to  become 
citizens  of  this  republic.  When  their  residence  is  chosen  they  may  then  look 
to  the  laws  of  their  locality  for  protection  and  guidance.  The  mass  of  im 
migrants  arriving  on  our  shores,  coming  as  they  do  on  vessels  under  foreign 
flags,  make  treaties  with  the  nations  furnishing  these  immigrants,  necessary 
for  their  complete  protection.  For  more  than  two  years  efforts  have  been 
made  on  our  part  to  secure  such  treaties,  and  there  is  now  reasonable  ground 
to  hope  for  success. 

[Signed]  U.  S.  GRANT." 

POLICY  TOWARD  NATURALIZED  CITIZENS. 

Coupled  with  this  interest  in  behalf  of  immi 
grants  is  a  wise  policy  toward  naturalized  citizens, 
whose  rights,  as  American  citizens,  the  President 
stands  ready  at  all  times  to  vindicate.  But  he  goes 
further  than  some  of  his  predecessors  have  done, 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  255 

and  declares  that  he  will  not  hazard  the  rights  of 
genuine  American  citizens,  by  interfering  in  behalf 
of  those  bogus  American  citizens  who  come  to 
America  and  take  out  naturalization  papers  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  availing  themselves  of  our  gov 
ernment's  jealous  protection,  while  they  return  to 
their  native  country,  "make  believe"  as  loyal  sub 
jects  of  their  renounced  sovereign,  and,  all  at  once, 
when  called  upon  for  some  service,  or  taken  to 
task  for  violation  of  the  laws  of  those  lands,  pro 
duce  an  American  passport  as  their  charter  of  free- 
bootery.  Of  this  class  is  (probably)  the  Doctor 
Houard,  who  has  recently  attracted  some  attention 
as  an  alleged  American  citizen  deprived  of  his 
liberty  by  the  Spanish  Government.  He  has  been 
operating  almost  exclusively,  of  late  years,  as 
a  Cuban  citizen  (which  means  a  Spanish  subject), 
conspiring  against  the  government  under  which  he 
lived;  and  it  is  in  his  behalf  that  President  Grant 
has  been  asked  to  call  out  the  American  Navy 
(which  happens  to  be  considerably  weaker  than 
the  Spanish),  and  with  it  batter  down  the  walls  of 
Castle  Moro,  of  Cadiz,  and  all  other  Spanish  strong 
holds.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  Houard  is 
one  of  that  class  of  whom  Grant  says,  "  While  I 
have  a  voice  in  the  direction  of  affairs,  I  shall  not 
consent  to  imperil  this  sacred  right  [of  citizen 
ship]  by  conferring  it  upon  fictitious  or  fraudulent 
claimants." 

SAN    DOMINGO. 

The  President's  early  enunciation  of  his  purpose 


256  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

as  Chief  Magistrate — "I  shall  on  all  subjects  have 
a  policy  to  recommend,  but  none  to  enforce  against 
the  will  of  the  people" — received  a  marked  illus 
tration  in  his  course  concerning  San  Domingo. 
He  saw,  as  he  believed,  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  acquiring  dominion  over  the  western  portion 
of  that  island.  The  necessity  of  a  foothold  in  the 
West  Indies,  especially  as  a  rendezvous  and  coal 
ing  station  for  our  vessels  of  war,  in  case  of  hostil 
ities  along  the  Southern  coast,  or  against  any  nation 
having  such  advantages,  had  been  painfully  mani 
fest  to  all  the  officers  concerned  in  the  conduct  of 
the  government  during  the  late  war  against  the 
Rebels.  The  richness  of  the  soil  of  San  Domingo 
and  the  eagerness  of  the  people  to  join  our  Repub 
lic,  were  also  known  to  Grant;  and  upon  the  strength 
of  these  facts,  he  took  the  preliminary  step  toward 
the  framing  of  a  treaty  with  the  President  of  the 
West  Indian  Republic — subject,  of  course,  to  rati 
fication  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  and  by 
a  plebiscite  of  the  Dominican  people.  Very  warm 
opposition  to  the  treaty  was  developed,  however, 
in  this  country,  especially  in  the  Senate,  where 
Charles  Sumner  made  several  of  his  famous  phil 
ippics,  accusing  the  President  of  all  manner  of 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors;  and  although  a 
commission  of  honorable  citizens,  whom  Congress 
sent  thither  to  investigate  the  subject,  pronounced 
unqualifiedly  in  favor  of  annexation,  the  President 
declined  to  push  his  project.  Of  course,  he  did 
not  hesitate  on  account  of  Sumner's  clamor;  but 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  259 

he  had  apparently  become  satisfied  that  the  people 
were  not  yet  ready  for  the  annexation  of  any  West 
Indian  territory,  and  hence,  he  could  not  consist 
ently  insist  upon  his  policy  of  annexation.  Mr. 
Greeley  would  have  done  otherwise,  if  any  of  his 
agricultural  or  social  crotchets  had  impelled  him  to 
undertake  a  similar  enterprise;  for  he  has  often 
boasted  his  courage  in  "  flying  in  the  teeth  of  pre 
judice." 

INTERFERENCE    WITH    LEGISLATION. 

The  veto  power  which  the  Constitution,  for  wise 
reasons  vested  in  the  President,  has  been  used  by 
Grant  in  only  a  few  instances,  and  then  never  in  the 
way  of  "  enforcing  a  policy  of  his  own"  against  the 
manifest  sentiment  of  the  country,  or  of  its  legis 
lative  representatives.  Only  a  few  weeks  before 
the  adjournment  of  the  recent  session  of  Congress, 
President  Grant  returned  several  bills  without  his 
approval.  They  were  of  the  sort  known  as  jobs— 
chiefly  in  behalf  of  certain  claimants  of  damages 
growing  out  of  the  late  war.  There  were  a  large 
number  of  these  before  Congress  at  its  late  session, 
and  it  looks  as  if  in  future  sessions  their  number  will 
be  legion,  unless  the  flood  is  checked  by  firm  and  hon 
est  action  on  the  part  of  Congress,  the  Executive, 
or  both.  Everybody  at  the  South  whose  property 
was  injured  by  the  war,  is  now  proposing  to  file 
claims  for  damages.  The  aggregate  would  be  many 
hundred  millions — a  doubling  up  of  the  national 
debt,  may  be.  The  Court  of  Claims  will  not  allow 


26O  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '/2. 

them,  and  the  claimants  besiege  Congress,  relying 
on  the  practice  of  "  log-rolling"  to  push  through 
their  bills  and  get  them  allowed.  That  is,  every 
Southern  member  is  obliged  to  vote  for  all  the 
bills  presented  by  every  other  Southern  member, 
because  each  has  a  set  of  bills  of  a  similar  nature, 
of  his  own,  none  of  which  could  go  through  on  their 
merits,  and  hence  all  must  join  interests,  or  "log 
roll"  together,  in  order  to  secure  the  necessary  vote. 
Nor  will  this  be  sufficient  unless  the  Southerners 
combine  with  such  Northern  and  Western  mem 
bers  as  have  local  jobs  to  push  through — harbor 
improvements,  post-office  buildings,  railroad  land 
grants,  etc.,  and  who,  by  "  hitching  horses"  with  the 
Southern  members,  fasten  still  another  lot  of  dis 
reputable  jobs  upon  the  national  treasury.  The 
better  sense  of  every  honest  Congressman  is 
against  this,  yet  it  takes  a  very  large  measure  of 
personal  and  official  honor  to  resist  the  temptation 
to  log-roll,  when  the  local  interests  which  the  Con 
gressman  is  supposed  mainly  to  represent  depend 
so  directly  upon  such  combinations.  It  is  thus  that 
jobs  get  through  Congress  in  spite  of  the  honest 
judgment  of  that  body;  and  until  some  effective 
legal  prohibition  for  log-rolling  is  devised  (and  this 
is  one  of  the  duties  with  which  the  Republican 
party  must  charge  itself)  the  country  must  depend 
upon  the  Executive  for  occasional  timely  interfer 
ences,  through  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power.  We 
have  already  pretty  nearly  scotched  out  the  Land 
Grant  iniquity  (to  which  Horace  Greeley,  and 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  26 1 

against  which  the  Republican  Party,  is  committed) 
and  the  most  threatening  development  of  the  log 
rolling  evil  now  manifesting  itself  is  the  Southern 
War  Claims.  But  for  the  timely  intervention  of 
the  veto  by  President  Grant  during  the  latest  days 
of  the  last  session  of  Congress,  several  grossly  im 
proper  claims  would  have  been  legalized  by  Con 
gress,  and  dangerous  precedents  established,  which 
might  have  swept  millions  out  of  the  Treasury. 


GRANT'S  "  MILITARY  RING." 


Probably  the  loudest  of  all  the  clamor  made  by 
the  jealous  Senators  and  their  newspaper  claqueurs 
against  President  Grant  is  that  which  refers  to  his 
employment  of  three  detailed  military  officers  to 
help  do  the  office  work  of  the  White  House.  It 
must  be  understood,  in  the  first  place,  that  Grant 
has  made  the  effort,  as  a  rule,  to  fill  his  cabinet 
places,  and  also  such  minor  offices  as  came  directly 
within  his  purview,  with  men  whom  he  knew  to  be 
personally  trustworthy,  instead  of  men  who  were 
recommended  by  the  politicians  as  "persons  to  be 
provided  for."  This  is  the  very  essence  of  the 
much-sighed-for  civil  service  reform ;  and  yet  it  is 
the  very  thing  in  President  Grant's  management 
about  which  the  spi  disant  reformers  have  howled 
the  most  savagely.  In  the  next  place,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  clerical  work  of  the  Execu 
tive  office  has  increased  enormously  since  the  war 
brought  into  existence  an  army  of  60,000  offi 
cials  throughout  the  country ;  and  that  the  growth 


262  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

of  the  country  itself,  and  the  increase  of  traveling 
facilities,  rendering  it  convenient  for  a  hundred 
men  to  visit  the  national  capitol  where  one  visited 
it  twenty  years  ago,  have  also  contributed  to  mul 
tiply  the  duties  of  those  who  keep  the  office  of  the 
country's  Chief  Magistrate.  At  the  same  time,  the 
law  has  made  no  provision  for  a  corresponding  in 
crease  of  the  personnel  ot  the  White  House.  This 
difficulty  has  had  to  be  got  over  by  General  Grant 
and  his  immediate  predecessors  as  best  it  could. 

So  much  being  premised,  we  will  quote  a  para 
graph  from  the  famous  philippic  of  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  on  the  3Oth  of 
May,  1872 — a  speech  which  may  be  fitly  pronounced 
the  most  scurrilous  and  venomous — the  greatest 
elaboration  of  eloquence  upon  the  smallest  basis 
of  facts — ever  perpetrated  in  that  chamber.  Said 
Sumner,  attempting  to  epitomize  in  a  paragraph 
for  campaign  use,  the  principal  allegation  against 
President  Grant : 

"The  military  spirit  which  failed  in  the  effort  to  set  aside  a  fundamental 
law  as  if  it  were  a  transient  order,  was  more  successful  at  the  Executive  Man 
sion,  which  at  once  assumed  the  character  of  military  headquarters.  To  the 
dishonor  of  the  civil  service,  and  in  total  disregard  of  precedent,  the  Presi 
dent  surrounded  himself  with  officers  of  the  army,  and  substituted  military 
forms  for  those  of  civil  life,  detailing  for  this  service  members  of  his  late 
staff." 

To  which  Senator  Carpenter  replied,  as  soon  as 
he  could  obtain  a  copy  of  Mr.  Sumner's  tirade — held 
back  from  the  Senate,  though  printed  and  circula 
ted  amongst  the  anti-Republican  press  many  days 
before  : 

"I  propose  to  consider  several  of  the  articles  of  impeachment  which  are 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  263 

set  in  array  by  the  Senator's  speech  against  the  President.  And  first  let  me 
consider  the  charge  that  the  President  has  turned  the  Executive  Mansion 
into  a  military  headquarders.  What  are  the  facts  ?  Three  officers  of  the 
army  may  be  found  in  the  White  House.  Babcock,  a  major  of  engineers, 
detailed  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress  to  act  as  commissioner  of  public 
buildings  and  grounds  ;  and  Dent  and  Porter,  officers  belonging  to  the  staff 
of  General  Sherman.  Three  more  modest  and  courteous  gentlemen  cannot 
be  found  in  the  United  States.  They  were  members  of  General  Grant's  mil 
itary  family  during  the  war,  and  they  love  him,  as  do  all  those  who  have  ever 
served  with  him.  In  so  far  as  they  can  assist  the  President,  it  is 
with  them  a  labor  of  love  to  do  so,  and  only  a  labor  of  love,  for 
neither  one  of  them  receives  one  cent  of  compensation  for  such 
service.  If  they  were  all  dismissed  from  the  White  House  to-day,  Bab- 
cock  would  have  an  office  in  some  other  public  building,  and  receive  the 
same  salary  as  at  present.  Dent  and  Porter  would  be  occupying  rooms  in 
the  War  Department,  dividing  with  other  assistants  of  General  Sherman  labor 
not  very  severe  in  these  piping  times  of  peace,  and  which  would  be  lighter 
still  when  still  further  divided.  It  has  been  attempted  by  the  Senator  to 
exalt  these  gentlemen  into  some  official  importance ;  but  they  are  merely 
clerks  at  the  White  House,  assisting  the  President,  with  the  permission  of 
General  Sherman,  their  official  chief ;  and  here  let  me  repeat  that  neither  of 
them  receives  a  cent  for  such  assistance  beyond  his  pay  as  an  officer  of  the 
army. 

"Now  for  the  precedents.  General  Washington  appointed  General  Knox, 
his  old  comrade  in  arms,  Secretary  of  War  ;  General  Jackson  was  assisted  by 
Major  Donalson  ;  General  Taylor  by  his  son-in-law,  Colonel  Bliss,  and  Pres 
ident  Johnson  by  four  officers  of  the  army,  detailed  for  service  at  the  White 
House." 

THE    FACT    ABOUT    GRANT. 

The  fact  is,  President  Grant  is  much  simpler  and 
less  military  in  his  habits  as  President  than  An 
drew  Johnson  was,  notwithstanding  the  demagog- 
uery  of  the  latter  led  him  to  affect  a  great  many 
extreme  democratic  notions.  Senator  Carpenter  is 
authority  for  the  following  statement  illustrative 
of  this  fact : 

"When  General  Grant  took  possession  of  the  White  House  it  was  patrolled 
by  sentinels  day  and  night ;  so  was  the  War  Department  ;  so  was  the  resi 
dence  of  Mr.  Seward.  The  first  night  General  Grant  slept  at  the  President's 


264  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

House,  after  retiring,  he  heard  the  tramp  of  soldiers  in  the  hall  below,  and 
presently  the  command,  'Halt ;  order  arms,'  and  the  crash  of  muskets  en  the 
floor.  The  General,  not  knowing  what  it  meant,  ran  down  stairs  to  ascer 
tain.  There  he  found  an  officer  in  command  of  a  squad  of  soldiers ;  and 
on  asking  an  explanation,  the  General  was  informed  that  it  was  the  night 
guard  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  which  for  a  long  time  had  been  stationed 
there  every  night.  But  General  Grant  informed  the  officer  that  he  could 
take  care  of  himself,  and  ordered  him  to  take  his  soldiers  to  their  quarters. 
He  waited  till  his  armed  friends  had  left,  then  locked  the  door  and  went  to 
bed.  The  next  day  the  whole  business  of  sentinal  service  was  discontinued, 
and  not  a  soldier  has  been  on  duty  at  the  White  House  since.  General 
Grant  also  ordered  away  from  Washington  all  the  companies  of  soldiers 
which  were  on  duty  here  when  he  was  inaugurated  ;  and  not  a  company  of 
troops  can  now  be  found  in  or  around  Washington  city." 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  the  eloquent  Senator, 
quoting  the  language  of  Sumner,  which  we  have 
transcribed  above,  continues: 

"  Allow  me  to  call  attention  again  to  the  precise  language  ;  and  here  let 
me  repeat  that  this  speech  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  not  to  be 
estimated  as  you  would  estimate  a  speech  thrown  off  in  the  heat  of  an  ex 
tempore  debate.  This  wrath  was  carefully  distilled ;  this  speech  was  pre 
pared  with  great  and  protracted  labor. 

"  Here  is  a  deliberate  arraignment,  and  what  is  here  is  either  deliberate 
truth  or  deliberate  falsehood  ;  one  or  the  other.  When  he  alleges,  as  he  does 
here,  that  "  to  the  dishonor  of  the  civil  service  and  in  total  disregard  of  pre 
cedent,  the  President  surrounded  himself  with  officers  of  the  Army,  and  sub 
stituted  military  forms  for  those  of  civil  life,  detailing  for  this  service  members 
of  his  late  staff,"  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  penned,  revised,  corrected, 
printed,  published,  sent  to  the  world  a  deliberate  truth  or  a  deliberate  false 
hood.  Which  was  it  ?  Was  there  no  precedent  for  his  being  served  by  a 
few  clerks  who  were  willing  to  aid  him  without  pay,  from  mere  personal  af 
fection  ?  Did  not  Andrew  Johnson  have  four  Army  officers  detailed  for  ser 
vice  in  the  White  House  ?  Had  not  Andrew  Johnson  been  surrounded  with 
sentinels  and  the  White  House  guarded  like  a  military  fortress  ;  and  in  all 
the  complaints  that  were  made  against  Andrew  Johnson,  did  any  man  charge 
him  with  violating  the  law  in  having  his  house  protected  at  night  by  senti 
nels  ?  Was  any  complaint  made  upon  the  ground  that  three  or  four  Army 
officers  were  serving  him  in  the  capacity  of  clerks  in  the  White  House?  If 
there  was,  I  never  heard  of  it,  and  yet  we  know  that  in  that  heated  and 
angry  time  those  who  opposed  Andrew  Johnson  were  not  over-scrupulous 
about  the  charges  they  brought  against  him,  and  still  such  a  thing  was  never 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  265 

laid  to  his  charge,  although,  as  I  have  shown,  instead  of  what  has  been  done, 
and  is  being  done  now,  being  without  a  precedent,  it  is  less  in  every  respect 
than  was  done  during  the  entire  administration  of  Mr.  Johnson  without 
criticism  from  anybody  whatever. 

"  But  again,  this  is  a  charge  not  only  that  the  Executive  Mansion  has  as 
sumed  the  character  of  military  headquarters,  but  that  he  has  substituted 
military  forms  for  those  of  civil  life.  I  take  it  to  be  the  duty  of  this  Senate, 
I  take  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  members  of  the  other  House,  I  take  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  all  lovers  of  truth  and  justice,  who  reside  for  a  portion  of  the 
year  in  Washington,  and  know  the  facts,  to  bear  testimony  to  the  American 
people  whether  this  arraignment  of  President  Grant  is  a  truth  or  a  falsehood. 
Senators,  how  has  the  White  House  been  made  to  assume  the  character  of 
military  headquarters  ?  Do  you  encounter  any  sentinel  at  the  door  ?  Do  you 
see  any  orderly  on  the  stairs  ?  Do  you  see  a  gun  or  a  musket  or  a  shoulder- 
strap  in  the  White  House  from  top  to  bottom  ?  Not  one.  The  whole  charge 
is  baseless  as  a  dream." 


GRANT    AT    THE    HEAD    OF    HIS   CABINET. 

None  have  the  temerity  to  accuse  Grant  of  being 
a  demagogue  ;  yet  it  is  quite  common  to  hear  him 
blamed  with  being  in  the  hands  of  political  trick 
sters,  who  shape  his  administration  for  party  ends. 
Hear  the  testimony,  upon  this  point  of  the  Hon.  E. 
Rockwood  Hoar,  who  was  Attorney  General  under 
Grant,  and  whose  word  is  authority  absolute.  Said 
Judge  Hoar,  in  a  recent  speech  in  Faneuil  Hall : 

"  I  presume  I  am  in  part  indebted  for  the  honor  of  the  invitation  to  come 
here  to  the  fact,  that  for  one  year  and  part  of  another,  I  had  the  honor  of  be 
ing  a  participator  in  the  councils  of  his  Administration,  and  I  desire  to  testify, 
and  I  believe  that  what  I  say  in  Massachusetts  will  be  accepted  as  fact,  that 
during  the  whole  period  in  which  I  was  in  the  Cabinet  councils  I  never  heard 
any  measure  of  the  Administration  discussed  or  considered  except  with,  a 
single  reference  to  the  public  interest.  I  never  heard  a  personal  suggestion 
in  regard  to  his  influence  upon  one  man  or  another  man,  but  the  consider 
ation  simply  was  what  would  be  best  for  the  country.  And  when  I  remember 
the  simple,  clear-headed,  practical,  modest  man,  who  sat  at  the  head  of  the 
table  there,  and  then  hear  him  talked  of  by  Mr.  Sumner,  I  think  Mr.  Sumner 
must  be  referring  to  somebody  else." 

16 


266  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Perhaps  we  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than 
by  incorporating  in  it  some  of  the  many  tributes 
paid  to  Grant's  success  as  Chief  Magistrate,  by  his 
present  opponent  in  the  presidential  contest — the 
first  of  them  from  a  speech  delivered  after  General 
Grant  had  made  up  his  record  as  President;  the 
second  printed  in  the  New  York  Tribune  in  Feb 
ruary,  1871;  and  the  last  contained  in  Mr.  Gree- 
ley's  speech  in  New  York,  January  5th,  1871,  and 
before  he  took  that  famous  Southern  trip  which 
stirred  up  the  Presidential  bee  in  his  own  bonnet. 

Said  Horace  Greeley  : 

"  Upon  General  Grant's  accession  to  the  presi 
dency,  a  great  number  of  those  who  had  supported 
his  election,  with  some  who  had  not,  sought  office 
at  his  hands,  or  expected  him  to  bestow  it  unasked. 
He  was  unable  to  gratify  their  aspirations.  Their 
lamentations,  mingled  with  the  howls  of  the  disap 
pointed,  made  up  a  very  doleful  dissonance,  where 
of  the  only  meaning  deducible  runs  thus :  '  General 
Grant  is  found  wanting — his  administration  is  a 
failure/  'Failure?'  how?  in  what?  Have  we  not 
peace  and  plenty  in  the  land?  Is  not  our  flag  dis 
played  and  respected  on  every  sea?  What  foreign 
foe  molests  or  threatens  us  ?  Who  fears  insurrec 
tion  at  home  or  invasion  from  abroad  ?  Yes ;  Gen 
eral  Grant  has  failed  to  gratify  some  eager  aspira 
tions,  and  has  thereby  incurred  some  intense  ha 
treds.  These  do  not  and  will  not  fail ;  and  his  ad 
ministration  will  prove  at  least  equally  vital.  We 
shall  hear  lamentation  after  lamentation  over  his 


GRANT    AS    PRESIDENT.  267 

failures  from  those  whose  wish  is  father  to  the 
thought;  but  the  American  people  let  them  pass 
unheeded.  Their  strong  arm  bore  him  triumph 
antly  through  the  war  and  into  the  White  House, 
and  they  still  uphold  and  sustain  him." 

Said  Horace  Greeley  again  : 

"We  like  General  Grant ;  but  we  care  far  more 
for  Republican  ascendency  than  for  any  man's  per 
sonal  fortunes.  It  is,  in  our  view,  of  great  import 
ance  that  the  opposition  shall  be  kept  out  of  pow 
er,  while  it  is  of  comparatively  small  moment  that 
A  or  B  should  tenant  the  White  House:  for  a 
Democratic  national  triumph  means  a  restoration 
to  power  of  those  who  deserted  their  seats  in  Con 
gress  and  their  places  under  the  last  Democratic 
President  to  plunge  the  country  into  the  Red  Sea 
of  secession  and  rebellion.  Though  you  paint  an 
inch  thick,  to  this  complexion  you  must  come  at 
last.  The  brain,  the  heart,  the  soul,  of  the  present 
Democratic  party  is  the  Rebel  element  of  the 
South,  with  its  Northern  allies  and  sympathizers." 

Said  Horace  Greeley,  further: 

"As  to  the  administration  of  General  Grant,  I 
recognize  no  one  as  a  Republican  who  is  not  grate 
ful  for  its  judicious,  energetic  and  successful  efforts 
to  procure  the  ratification  of  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment,  that  keystone  of  our  political  arch,  whereby 
the  fruits  of  our  great  triumph  over  rebellion  and 
slavery  are  assured  and  perpetuated. 

"That  the  President  has  made  some  mistakes  in 
appointments  is  obvious — it  would  be  strange,  in- 


268  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

deed,  if  one  so  inexperienced  in  the  conduct  of 
political  affairs  had  wholly  escaped  them.  What 
ever  blame  may  justly  attach  to  this,  falls  rightfully 
on  us,  who  took  him  from  the  head  of  the  army 
and  made  him  our  civil  chief  magistrate,  fully 
aware  that  he  had  never  voted  a  Republican  ticket, 
if,  indeed,  he  had  voted  at  all.  While  asserting 
the  right  of  every  Republican  to  his  untrammeled 
choice  of  a  "candidate  for  next  President  until  a 
nomination  is  made,  I  venture  to  suggest  that  Gen 
eral  Grant  will  be  far  better  qualified  for  that  mo 
mentous  trust  in  \%T2  than  he  was  in  1868.  Such, 
gentlemen,  are  the  ideas  and  convictions  which 
have  compelled  me  to  take  my  place  among  you, 
and  accept  the  responsibility  you  have  imposed 
upon  me  [Chairman  of  a  Republican  Central  Com 
mittee.].  Let  us  take  care  to  act  with  substantial 
unanimity,  and  with  such  evident  moderation  and 
fairness  that  our  friends  throughout  the  State  and 
the  Union  shall  see  and  feel  that  we  are  doing  our 
utmost  to  unite  and  strengthen  the  Republican 
party,  and  animate  it  with  well-grounded  and  san 
guine  hopes  of  future  triumphs." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

GRANT  AS  A  MAN. 

Some  Personal  Traits— A  Glance  at  the  White  House— The  President's 
Daily  Programme — Grant's  Personal  Appearance — His  Habits — His  Con 
versation — A  Little  Story — His  Mental  and  Moral  Qualities — A  Friendly 
Portrait — How  the  Painter  Came  Afterward  to  be  Unfriendly — Grant  and 
Sumner  Contrasted. 

This  chapter  will  be  devoted  mainly  to  the  per 
sonal  traits  of  President  Grant,  though  some  por 
tions  of  it  will  necessarily  have  a  close  connection 
with  the  matter  of  the  two  previous  chapters,  inas 
much  as  it  will  be  a  running  sketch,  from  obser 
vation,  of  how  he  carries  himself  in  the  White 
House,  which  is  at  once  his  office  and  his  home. 

THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

The  reader  will  suppose  himself  to  be  on  a  visit 
to  that  great  cynosure  of  American  eyes,  and  goal 
of  American  ambitions,  the  White  House,  and  to 
be  armed  with  such  letters,  or  escort,  or  personal 
fame,  as  shall  secure  his  introduction  to  the  Chief 
Magistrate.  Not  much  is  required  in  this  way— 
merely  enough  to  keep  downright  idlers  and  ad 
venturers  from  occupying  the  President's  time  to 
the  exclusion  of  those  who  have  some  business 
with  him.  You  seek  out  the  Executive  Mansion, 

(269) 


270  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

located  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  just  west  of  the 
magnificent  Treasury  Building,  and  opposite  the 
luxuriantly  growing  Lafayette  Park.  A  broad, 
semi-circular  walk  admits  you  through  the  grounds 
of  the  Mansion,  which  is  found  to  be  a  fine,  spaci 
ous  edifice,  with  over  a  hundred  feet  of  front,  built 
of  freestone  painted  white,  and  adorned  with  plain, 
heavy,  round  columns,  enclosing  a  roomy  portico, 
with  driveway  and  landing  for  carriages.  Inside, 
the  impression  is  not  remarkably  pleasant.  The 
halls  are  vast  and  reachy,  and  the  main  reception 
room,  directly  at  the  left  of  the  front  entrance,  is 
usually  quite  deserted,  except  by  occasional  strag 
glers.  Here,  however,  on  certain  days  of  the  week, 
the  promiscuous  public  is  received  by  the  President 
and  his  lady.  This  room  is  richly  furnished,  and 
its  eight  immense  pier  glass  mirrors  are  interspersed 
with  as  many  portraits  of  former  hosts  of  the  White 
House,  all  of  them  smartly  framed,  but  not  all 
well  painted.  At  the  foot  of  the  broad  staircase, 
you  encounter  one  or  more  ushers,  apparently  of 
the  Celtic  race,  and  quite  affable,  though  not  other 
wise  prepossessing.  They  are  utterly  devoid  of 
everything  which  could  be  construed  into  "style" 
or  "  pomp" — no  livery,  no  ceremony,  no  look,  even, 
of  the  trained  house  servant.  Indeed,  these  fel 
lows  appear  as  if  they  were  but  recently  broken 
into  this  duty,  and  that  their  latest  calling  had  been 
farming,  or  teaming,  perhaps. 

Upstairs — whither  any  one  goes  who  assumes  the 
right  to  go — another  reception    room   is    reached, 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  271 

wherein  are  usually  found  throughout  the  forenoon 
and  until  two  or  three  o'clock,  an  average  of  half  a 
dozen  gentlemen,  awaiting  their  turn  for  an  audience 
with  the  President.  You  seat  yourself  among  them 
and  hand  your  card,  or  your  letters,  to  General 
Frederic  Dent,  one  of  those  shameful  brothers-in- 
law  of  whom  we  hear  so  much,  who  acts  as  chamber 
lain,  or  usher-in-chief  Dent  is  genial  and  withal  a 
trifle  loquacious,  so  that  few  visitors  fail  to  be  en 
tertained  in  some  way.  Your  card  is  taken  in  to 
the  President,  who  sits  in  the  Cabinet  chamber,  and 
you  await  the  result,  as  the  rest  are  doing. 

"  IMPERIALISM"  ILLUSTRATED. 

The  waiting  room  you  discover  to  be  also  an  of 
fice  for  two  or  three  clerks.  To  the  rear  of  it  is  a 
hall  or  ante-room,  in  which  are  two  more  servants. 
These  are  colored,  fat,  ungainly  and  illy-dressed ; 
and  the  visitor  begins  to  inquire  in  his  own  mind 
where  is  that  imperial  pomp — that  military  parade 
— which  Mr.  Sumner's  speeches  had  led  him  to  ex 
pect.  Not  here,  certainly.  We  will  wait  and  get 
a  glimpse  of  it  as  we  approach  the  Executive  pres 
ence  itself.  If  we  are  a  Cabinet  Minister,  a  Sen 
ator,  a  Congressman  or  a  high  bureau  officer,  we 
go  into  the  Cabinet  Chamber  without  much  cere 
mony — perhaps  through  the  office  of  Gens.  Porter 
and  Babcock,  which  flanks  the  Cabinet  Chamber 
and  communicates  with  it.  The  forenoon  hours  are 
ostensibly  devoted  to  the  privileged  characters 
named,  all  of  whom  have  legitimately  much  business 


272  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

with  the  Executive;  but  Grant  manages  to  sand 
wich  in  a  considerable  number  of  lay  visitors  be 
tween  the  official  callers. 

IN    THE    CABINET    CHAMBER. 

Supposing  such  to  be  your  opportunity.  You 
pass  into  the  chamber,  hallowed  by  hundreds  of 
state  meetings  of  gravest  moment,  like  that  when 
Lincoln  presented  a  draft  of  his  immortal  Pro 
clamation  for  the  consideration  of  his  Cabinet  ; 
and  you  feel,  most  likely,  an  awe  begotten  of  such 
associations.  Nor  is  this  lessened  by  the  thought 
that  you  was  now  in  the  presence  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  a  great  nation,  and  the  most  succes- 
ful  of  modern  generals.  That  is  he,  at  the  further 
end  of  the  long  table.  Perhaps  his  face  disap 
points  you  ;  for  it  is  thicker  and  a  shade  older  than 
the  prints  show  him,  or  than  you  recollect  him,  in 
the  hand-shaking  days,  just  after  the  war,  or  per 
haps  it  is  his  stature,  which  is  a  trifle  below  the 
medium  height.  His  face  is  ruddy,  his  beard  close- 
cropped,  as  usual,  and  his  straight  brown  hair  is 
combed  back  with  scrupulous  care,  but  no  grace. 
He  throws  a  glance  at  you  with  his  quick,  clear, 
deep  eyes — they  are  blue  and  liquid,  but  capable 
of  piercing  like  a  poniard — and  seems  to  be  satis 
fied  with  your  measure  at  once. 

GRANT    IN    CONVERSATION. 

You  are  asked  to  sit,  and  conversation  commen 
ces  at  once.  Here  you  make  another  discovery, 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  273 

viz :  that  Grant  is  not  the  sphinx  which  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  and  other  detractors  have  painted  him.  He 
manifests  an  intelligent  interest  in  his  visitor's  af 
fairs,  or,  if  the  talk  take  a  public  turn,  expresses 
himself  freely  on  the  questions  of  public  moment. 
The  writer  cannot  forbear  an  illustration  of  this 
from  his  own  experience,  which  also  shows  that 
Grant  is  not  destitute  of  the  story-telling  faculty 
which  distinguished  Abraham  Lincoln,  even  while 
occupying  the  same  chair. 

The  conversation  had  drifted  into  politics  and 
the  question  was  propounded  of  Greeley's  ability 
to  win  over  the  Democratic  party  to  his  support. 
The  President  did  not  answer  this  categorically ; 
but  he  was  reminded  of  "a  little  story,"  which 
served  the  same  purpose. 

"Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,"  he  said  (and 
we  quote  Grant's  language,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
from  memory)  "and  before  much  had  been  learned 
about  the  way  Southern  society  was  going  to  settle 
down,  I  sent  these  two  young  men,  Generals  Por 
ter  and  Babcock,  down  through  the  Gulf  States 
on  a  tour  of  observation.  In  some  places,  the 
planters,  anxious  to  produce  a  good  impression,  got 
up  meetings  of  the  colored  folks  and  had  speeches 
made,  by  way  of  inaugurating  an  'era  of  good  feel 
ing,'  or  showing  that  one  had  already  commenced. 
At  one  of  these  meetings,  the  principal  planter  in 
the  place  harangued  the  boys  (with  one  word  for 
them  and  two  for  Porter  and  Babcock),  telling 
hew  the  war  had  changed  the  relations  between 


274  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

the  masters  and  the  slaves  :  but  that  they  (the  mas 
ters)  were  still  the  natural  guardians  of  the  negro 
people,  etc.  'We  accept  the  situation/  he  said  ;  'the 
South  is  whipped  and  the  slaves  are  free.  But 
they  are  going  to  stick  to  their  old  friends.  Ain't 
they,  Tom  ?'  said  he,  speaking  to  an  old  colored 
man  who,  he  thought,  was  on  his  side. 

"But  Tom  didn't  see  it  in  the  same  light  as  the 
master,  exactly.  And  so  Tom  addressed  the  meet 
ing.  He  said  '  he'd  been  to  a  great  many  meetin's 
afore,  and  seed  a  great  many  folks  get  converted; 
but  he  noticed  that  when  they  did  that,  they  always 
jined  de  church,  and  didn't  ask  de  church  to  jine 
them.' " 

The  inference  was  that  if  Greeley  had  been  con 
verted  to  Democracy,  the  natural  course,  as  it 
would  appear  to  the  members  of  that  flock,  would 
be  for  him  to  join  the  Democratic  church,  and  not 
ask  the  church  to  join  him. 

GRANT    NO    IMITATOR. 

Grant  will  not  probably,  however,  establish  a 
reputation  as  a  story-teller,  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  he  would  dislike  to  seem  to  be  an 
imitator,  even  of  Lincoln.  A  high  officer  of  the 
national  government,  whose  station  brought  him 
near  to  the  Presidents  (and  from  whom  we  have  the 
incident  directly),  took  occasion,  during  the  early 
months  of  his  administration,  to  drop  hints  of  how 
Lincoln  used  to  do  this  and  how  he  did  not  do 
that.  Grant  bore  this  a  little  while,  but  finally 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  275 

stopped  it  with  "  Well,  now,  you  know,  Mr.  -  — , 
that  I  can't  be  Lincoln  if  I  try  ever  so  hard.  I 
think  I  had  better  be  myself,  and  do  the  best  I  can." 
This  shows — not  that  Grant  did  not  hold  Lincoln 
high  in  esteem  as  a  model — for  he  is  a  great  ad 
mirer  of  that  statesman — but  that  he  recognized 

o 

the  truth  of  the  maxim  that  "  no  man  is  ever  great 
by  imitation." 

PHYSICAL    CHARACTERISTICS    AND    HABITS. 

General  Grant  again  disappoints  his  visitor  (at 
first)  in  his  voice,  which  is  low  and  almost  croak 
ing — not  the  bluff,  hearty  voice  which  one  expects 
to  find  in  a  soldier.  Nevertheless  it  is  the  voice 
for  a  President  to  have — that  is,  which  goes  with 
the  qualities  necessary  in  a  good  Executive.  It 
indicates — and  correctly — a  man  not  obtrusive  with 
his  thoughts  or  opinions  until  he  has  got  all  he 
needs  of  the  thoughts  and  opinions  of  others.  It 
indicates  the  man  who  husbands  his  energies,  as  he 
must  do  who  plods  through  the  enormous  amount 
of  work  now  incumbent  on  a  faithful  American 
President,  and  yet  seem  to  have  plenty  of  leisure. 
It  indicates  the  studious  man,  who  goes  to  the 
bottom  of  every  question  presented  to  him,  nor 
shrinks  from  puzzling  long,  if  necessary,  over  any 
knotty  question  of  fact  or  law.  The  peculiar  qual 
ity  of  Grant's  voice  soon  ceases  to  attract  his  visit 
or's  notice,  which  is  absorbed  in  the  matter  of  his 
speech. 

Before  leaving  President   Grant's   physical  and 


276  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

superficial  characteristics,  we  may  mention  a  fact 
or  two  concerning  his  daily  habits.  These  are  not 
noticeable,  except  for  their  simplicity  and  their  very 
lack  of  noticeable  features.  Rising  at  about  the 
average  hour  of  his  fellow  citizens  of  the  sedentary 
or  professional  class,  President  Grant  breakfasts  sim 
ply  and  is  ready  for  business  as  soon  as  the  public  or 
the  officials  having  transactions  with  him,  can  arrive 
for  the  purpose.  He  sits  in  the  Cabinet  Chamber  un 
til  well  into  the  afternoon,  after  which,  having  lunched 
lightly,  he  usually  drives — oftener  single  than  other 
wise — in  a  modest  little  buggy  and  behind  a  young 
bay  mare,  which  General  Dent  extols,  but  which  an 
Iowa  horse  fancier,  who  has  lately  inspected  the 
President's  stud,  pronounces  not  much  above  the 
ordinary.  We  will,  however,  pay  enough  deference 
to  Grant's  judgment  of  horseflesh  to  place  the  colt 
on  record  as  one  of  the  best  of  her  race. 

After  this  drive,  which  occupies,  perhaps,  two 
hours,  the  President  occupies  himself  miscellane 
ously  until  dinner  time.  This  meal  is  often  shared 
with  guests,  usually  at  the  White  House  inform 
ally.  The  President's  dinners  are  good,  but  not 
elaborately  bountiful.  For  company  there  are  usu 
ally  two  courses  of  wine,  in  which  the  President 
indulges,  if  at  all,  very  abstemiously — merely  tast 
ing  his  glass  for  sociality's  sake.  After  dinner,  in 
summer,  comes  a  walk,  oftener  solitary  than  other 
wise;  though,  of  course,  so  conspicuous  a  man  is 
constantly  receiving  greetings  from  those  whom  he 
does  or  does  not  know.  His  evenings,  in  time  of 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  279 

Congress,  are  devoted  to  hard  work  upon  bills,  let 
ters,  and  other  dry  and  laborious  details,  which  oft 
en  keep  the  President  employed  far  into  the  night. 
He  is  represented  as  a  most  assiduous  worker, 
never  affixing  his  name  to  a  paper  whose  contents 
he  has  not  carefully  investigated.  With  such  hab 
its,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  man  suffers 
occasionally  from  neuralgia  ;  but  this  ailment  has 
not  increased  since  his  undertaking  the  duties  of 
Executive.  His  much. smoking,  which  is  often  al 
luded  to,  seems  to  be,  as  in  many  cases  it  undoubt 
edly  is,  a  necessity,  or,  at  least,  no  bane,  of  his 
physical  system  ;  just  as,  in  other  cases,  it  is  a  rank 
poison. 

GRANT    AT    CHURCH. 

Grant  is  a  regular  attendant  at  church,  to  which 
he  walks,  when  accompanied  by  his  family,  through 
the  church — the  Metropolitan  Methodist — is  about 
a  mile  distant  from  the  White  House.  His  dress 
has  nothing  noticeable  about  it ;  his  aim  being  evi 
dently  to  follow  the  style  of  his  fellow  citizens,  just 
as  that  of  his  rival  in  the  present  political  campaign 
has  been  to  be  unlike  the  rest  of  mankind  in  af 
fecting  a  long  white  coat  and  a  general  studied 
negligence  of  attire.  Grant  is  by  no  means  a  showy 
person  in  a  crowd — his  short,  stooping  form  and 
downcast  look  and  the  general  commonness  of  his 
mien  failing  to  seize  the  eye  of  the  passer-by. 

GRANT'S  INTELLECT  AND  TEMPERAMENT. 
When    we  mnsider  U.   S.    Grant's    mental   and 


28O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

moral  characteristics,  we  discover  more  which  per 
tains  to  the  great  general  and  succesful  President. 
And  even  of  these  it  is  probably  the  perfect  bal 
ance  of  all,  rather  than  the  special  development  of 
any  one,  which  has  brought  their  possessor  such 
uniform  success.  Grant's  temperament  is  a  com 
bination  of  the  various  orders,  though  perhaps  the 
phlegmatic  predominates ;  and  his  intellectual 
qualities  seem  constructed,  like  his  physical,  for  en 
during  great  and  long-continued  pressure.  Those 
who  have  been  much  with  him  have  almost  incred 
ible  accounts  to  give  of  his  capacity  for  carrying  on 
several  mental  operations  at  the  same  time  ;  as  of 
hearing  a  report  from  an  officer,  and  writing  simul 
taneously  an  important  order  on  a  totally  differ 
ent  subject ;  and  of  retaining  in  his  mind  all  the 
details  pertaining  to  a  great  battle,  without  a  past 
event  misplaced,  or  a  singular  particular  of  his  plans 
crowded  out  or  jostled  in  the  least.  His  mathe 
matical  mind  seems  never  to  become  confused,  and 
his  impulses  are  so  balanced  by  judgment  as  never 
to  step  in  and  upset  the  plans  which  his  calculation 
had  arranged. 

A    TRIBUTE    FROM    AN    ENEMY. 

Some  of  the  points  of  General  Grant's  charac 
ter  are  thus  sketched,  apparently  from  life,  after 
careful  study,  and  we  reproduce  them  here  with 
especial  relish,  since  they  were  endorsed,  (if  not 
written),  by  Mr.  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  the  New 
York  Sun,  who  has  since,  for  reasons  which  the 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  28 1 

public   understand  pretty  well,  become  one  of  the 
most  unscrupulous  of  Grant's  traducers  : 

"There  is  no  noise  or  clash  or  clamor  in  the  man  ;  his  voice  is  as  quiet  and 
orderly  as  a  woman's,  and  his  language  judiciously  chosen.  He  was  never 
heard  to  give  utterance  to  a  rude  word  or  vulgar  jest  ;  no  oath  or  fierce,  fiery 
imprecation  has  ever  escaped  his  lips.  No  thundering  order,  no  unfeeling  or 
undignified  speech;  and  no  thoughtless  or  ill-natured  criticism  ever  fell  from 
him.  When  angry,  which  is  rarely  the  case,  or,  at  least,  he  rarely  shows  his  an 
ger,  he  speaks  with  well-ordered  but  sbudued  vehemence,  displaying  his  pas 
sion  by  compressed  lips  and  an  earnest  flash  of  the  eye.  But  it  must  be  said 
of  him  that  of  all  men  he  is  the  slowest  to  anger.  He  has  been  heard  to 
say  that  under  the  severest  insult  he  never  became  indignant  till  a  week  after 
the  offence  had  been  given,  and  then  only  at  himself  for  not  having  sooner 
discovered  that  he  had  been  insulted  or  misused.  This  arises  rather  from  an 
unconscious  self-abnegation  than  from  any  incapacity  for  choler. 

"It  is  precisely  this  quality  which  has  made  him  so  successful  in  the  per 
sonal  questions  which  have  arisen  between  him  and  his  subordinates.  They 
have  usually  mistaken  his  slowness  for  dullness  or  a  lack  of  spirit,  and  have 
discovered  their  mistake  only  after  having  become  rash  and  committing  a 
fatal  error.  Grant  is  unsuspicious  and  pure-hearted  as  a  child,  and  as  free 
from  harmful  intention  ;  but  he  is  stirred  to  the  very  depths  of  his  nature  by 
an  act  of  inhumanity  or  brutality  of  any  sort ;  while  meanness,  or  ingrati 
tude,  or  uncharitableness,  excites  him  to  the  display  of  the  liveliest  indigna 
tion.  He  is  not  slow  in  his  exhibition  of  disgust  for  whatever  is  unmanly  or 
unbecoming." — Danas  Life  of  Giant. 

The  same  writer  goes  on  to  dilate  upon  Grant's 
habits,  tastes,  and  mental  characteristics ;  and 
though  the  picture  is  apparently  tinted  with  warm 
personal  admiration,  it  cannot  be  said,  by  those 
who  know  the  subject,  that  it  is  over-drawn. 

"  Grant's  personal  habits  and  tastes  are  exceedingly  simple  ;  he  despises 
the  pomp  and  show  of  empty  parade,  and  in  his  severe  simplicity  and  manly 
pride  he  scorns  all  adventitious  aids  to  popularity.  He  lives  plainly  himself, 
and  cannot  tolerate  ostentation  or  extravagance  in  those  about  him.  His 
mess  was  never  luxuriously,  though  always  bountifully  furnished  with  army 
rations,  and  such  supplies  as  could  be  transported  readily  and  easily  in  the 
limited  number  of  wagons  that  he  permitted  to  follow  his  headquarters.  His 
appetites  are  all  under  perfect  control.  He  is  very  abstemious,  and  during 
his  entire  Western  campaign  the  officers  of  his  staff  were  forbidden  to  bring 
wines  or  liquors  into  camp.  He  has  been  represented  as  one  of  the  most 


282  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

taciturn  of  men,  and  in  one  respect  he  is  such.  He  never  divulges  his 
thoughts  till  they  are  matured,  and  never  aspires  to  speech-making ;  and 
even  in  private  conversation  he  falls  into  silence  if  he  suspects  that  he  is 
likely  to  be  reported.  He  is  the  most  modest  of  men,  and  nothing  more 
annoys  him  than  a  loud  parade  of  personal  opinion  or  personal  vanity  ;  but 
with  his  intimate  friends,  either  at  home  or  around  the  camp  fire,  he  talks 
upon  all  subjects,  not  only  fluently  but  copiously,  but  in  the  most  charming 
and  good  natured  manner.  His  life  has  been  too  busy  to  read  history  or 
technical  works,  but  he  has  always  been  a  close  and  careful  reader  of  the 
newspapers.  He  has  a  retentive  memory,  and  is  deeply  interested  in  all 
matters  which  concern  the  interests  of  humanity,  and  particularly  his  own 
country.  Upon  all  such  subjects,  in  fact,  upon  all  the  vital  questions  of  the 
day,  he  thinks  carefully  and  profoundly,  and  expresses  himself  with  great  ease 
and  good  sense.  His  understanding  is  that  of  incisive  character  that  soon 
probes  a  question  to  the  bottom,  no  matter  how  much  the  politicians  or 
newspapers  may  labor  to  confuse  it,  while  his  judgment  is  so  deliberate,  hon 
est,  and  truthful  in  its  operations,  that  it  may  be  implicitly  relied  upon  to  ar 
rive  at  a  fair  and  unbiased  conclusion." 

THE    MILK    IN    SOME    COCOA    NUTS  ACCOUNTED    FOR. 

It  may  be  timely  to  remark  that  this  panegyric 
was  not  succeeded  by  denunciation  from  the  same 
source  until  its  author  had  personal  reasons,  not 
entirely  unconnected  with  a  rejected  application  for 
a  federal  appointment,  for  maligning  the  man  whom 
he  had  so  unqualifiedly  praised.  And  here  another 
quotation  from  Grant's  colloquial  talk  is  in  order. 
During  the  same  interview  at  which  the  story  about 
the  Southern  planter  and  his  negroes  was  told,  a 
Virginia  gentleman  came  in  for  the  purpose  of  re 
porting  to  the  President  the  state  of  politics  in  the 
Old  Dominion.  The  defection  of  Ex-Governor 
Pierrepont,  in  West  Virginia,  was  referred.  To  the 
President  interrupted  with  a  remark  which  seemed 
more  tempered  with  the  pleasure  of  having  dis 
covered  a  rule  or  a  fact  in  human  nature  than  with 


GRANT    AS    A    MAN.  283 

any  feeling  of  personal  resentment.  "  It  is  a  curious 
fact/'  he  observed,  "  that  in  nearly  every  one  of 
these  cases  of  disaffection  among  Republicans,  the 
man's  action  can  be  traced  directly  to  some  motive 
entirely  personal  to  himself — usually  the  refusal  of 
office  to  himself  or  some  of  his  particular  friends"  ; 
and  he  proceeded  to  mention  other  cases  besides 
that  of  the  West  Virginia  Ex-Governor.  It  is  a 
fact  that  the  names  of  seven  out  of  every  nine  of 
the  members  of  the  Cincinnati  Convention  appear 
upon  the  books  at  the  White  House  as  applicants 
for  office. 

GRANT'S   LEARNING. 

It  cannot  be  claimed  in  behalf  of  General  Grant 
that  he  is  deeply  read  in  abstruse  sciences,  even 
in  those  which  Mr.  Sumner  would  consider  indis 
pensable  to  statesmanship  ;  but  it  is  true  that  he  is 
no  ignoramus  in  such  matters,  and  that  what  tech 
nical  knowledge  he  does  possess  is  not  so  much  a 
damage  to  him,  as  that  possessed  by  some  of  his 
enemies  and  rivals  is  to  them.  A  President  should 
not  be  a  theorist  or  a  book-worm.  His  lore  should 
not  be  gulped  down  from  musty  books,  where  it 
was  distilled  full-flavored — and,  perhaps,  poisoned 
in  the  flavoring — years,  perhaps  ages,  before.  It 
should  be  gathered,  as  the  bee  gathers  its  honey, 
in  actual  contact  with  men.  Thus  acquired,  it  is 
assimilated  with  the  judgment  and  becomes  a  facul 
ty  of  instantaneous  perception — an  instinct,  almost. 
The  difference  between  Grant's  life  and  that  of 


284  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

such  a  man  as  Charles  Sumner,  is  expressed  in 
these  opposite  sets  of  circumstances.  While  Sum 
ner,  born  to  plenty  and  reared  in  an  atmosphere  of 
scholarship  and  semi-aristocratic  ease,  became  at 
once  a  book-worm,  and  learned  nothing  of  men,  be 
cause  he  never  came  in  contact  with  but  a  single 
point  of  their  natures,  Grant  was  thrown  from  the 
first  among  practical  affairs,  and  passed  through  an 
almost  unintermitting  school  of  human  life  and  ex 
perience,  calculated  to  develop  those  practical  qual 
ities  essential  to  a  good  Executive.  While  Sumner 
was  immersed  in  books,  books,  books,  Grant  was 
everywhere  encountering  men,  men,  men  ;  studying 
their  strong  and  their  weak  points,  and  learning 
lessons  from  both.  That  he  improved  his  oppor 
tunities  is  shown  from  the  quickly,  keenly  pene 
trating  "common  sense"  which  he,  as  President,  has 
brought  to  bear,  almost  unerringly,  upon  the  ques 
tions  of  state  which  have  presented  themselves  for 
his  solution.  A  man  of  practical  common  sense, 
and  of  well-balanced  impulses  is  better  in  the  Pres 
ident's  chair  than  a  man  who  has  Vattel  at  his 
tongue's  end  and  Grotius  dog's-eared  in  his  library. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

GRANT  AND  THE  COLORED  RACE. 

The  Real  Question  for  the  Colored  Man's  Consideration — Grant's  Record  as 
to  Treatment  of  Negroes — Early  Orders,  Letters,  Etc. — He  Shuts  Down 
at  Donelson  upon  Fugitive  Slave  Hunters — Issues  Practical  Military  Or 
ders  in  Behalf  of  Freedmen  in  Advance  of  the  Government — Organizes 
the  First  Freedmen's  Bureau — Encourages  the  Formation  of  Negro  Regi 
ments — Favors  a  Negroes'  Paradise  at  Milliken's  Bend — His  Expressions 
as  President — Appointments  of  Colored  Men  to  Office,  Etc. 

Considerable  effort  has  been  made  by  the  parti 
sans  of  Mr.  Greeley  to  excite  among  the  colored 
voters  some  jealousy  of  Grant,  and  thereby  make 
votes  for  Greeley,  whom  they  propose  to  foist  upon 
the  negroes  by  means  of  his  old  anti-slavery  rec 
ord.  The  argument  which  these  sophists  use 
against  General  Grant  is,  that  he  was  not  known 
as  an  Abolitionist  before  the  war.  They  also  make 
an  assertion,  founded  upon  no  trustworthy  author 
ity  which  can  be  discovered,  that  Grant  expressed 
himself,  early  in  the  war,  in  decided  opposition  to 
emancipation  as  an  object  of  the  war.  But  even 
if  this  apocryphal  assertion  should  be  proven,  it 
will  not  go  very  far,  since  Abraham  Lincoln,  whom 
the  negroes  justly  regard  as  the  particular  benefac 
tor  of  their  race,  expressed  himself,  less  than  a 
month  before  issuing  his  preliminary  Emancipation 

(285) 


286  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Proclamation,  as  in  great  doubt  of  the  correctness 
of  that  policy. 

THE    REAL    QUESTION. 

But  be  these  things  as  they  may,  it  will  be  gen 
erally  admitted  that  the  main  question  for  colored 
voters  now  is,  who  has  actually  shown  in  his  acts 
the  most  friendship  for  our  race  ?  Who  is  now 
with  our  friends,  and  who  with  our  enemies?  If 
Grant  is  the  representative  of  the  party  which 
emancipated  the  colored  race  from  slavery,  and 
which  now  favors  their  elevation  to  the  highest 
functions  of  citizenship,  he  is  the  colored  man's 
candidate  par  excellence.  If  Horace  Greeley,  no 
matter  what  his  past  record  may  be,  is  now  acting 
with  the  party  of  the  slave-holder,  the  party  of  the 
Ku-Klux,  and  the  party  of  Rebel  rights  as  against 
national  power  and  loyalty,  then  Mr.  Greeley  is  the 
man  for  the  colo  red  voter  to  help  defeat  as  effectu 
ally  as  Me  Clellan  was  defeated  in  1864,  or  Seymour 
in  1868. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  worth  while  to  look  over  Gen 
eral  Grant's  record  as  to  the  colored  race,  since  it 
is  found  not  merely  to  corroborate  his  present  fav 
orable  attitude  toward  the  race,  but  also  shows  that 
Grant  was  one  of  the  negro's  earliest,  staunchest, 
most  practicably  valuable  friends.  And  in  doing 
so,  we  shall  use^in  the  main,  the  language  of  a  col 
ored  citizen  of^JJ/ashington,  who  has  made  the  mat 
ter  the  subject  of  careful  investigation.  Writing 
in  reply  to  an  article  in  the  personal  organ  of  Gov- 


GRANT    AND    THE    COLORED    RACE.  287 

ernor  Warmoth,  of  Louisiana,  obviously  written 
for  the  purpose  of  misleading  the  minds  of  the 
black  population  on  this  subject,  he  brings  up  the 
following  facts : 

THE       PROCLAMATION      OF      LINCOLN-GRANT'S      EARLY 

ACTION. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  proclamation,  warned  the 
Rebels  that  he  would,  on  the  first  day  of  January 
following,  proclaim  emancipation  in  those  States 
where  the  people  shall  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States.  That  glorious  proclamation  he  ac 
cordingly  issued ;  but  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
portions  of  Louisiana  and  Virginia  were  not  in 
cluded  in  it. 

General  Grant  commanded  the  armies  which 
were  moving  southward  from  Cairo  and  operating 
in  Territory  affected  and  unaffected  by  the  pro 
clamation.  I  find  by  consultation  with  an  ex- 
officer  in  that  army,  who  knew  all  the  orders  issued, 
that  General  Grant  was  always  up  with  or  in  ad 
vance  of  authority  furnished  from  Washington,  in 
regard  to  the  treatment  of  persons  of  color,  then 
slaves.*  Thus  a  large  number  of  the  Blacks,  through 


*The  following  order,  issued  at  Fort  Donelsonas  early  as  February,  1862, 
is  an  evample: 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  WEST  TENNESSEE, 

"  FORT  DONELSQN,  Feb.  26,  1862. 
"  General  Orders,  No.  14.  *^ 

41 1.  General  Order  No.  3,  series  1861,  froiiHieadquarters  department  of 
the  Missouri,  is  still  in  force  and  must  be  observed.  The  necessity  of  its 
strict  enforcement  is  made  apparent  by  the  numerous  applications  from  citi- 


288  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

his  orders,  were  furnished  employment  within  his 
lines,  or  transportation  to  homes  and  places  of 
comfort  for  themselves  and  families,  and  education 
for  their  children,  in  the  North.  And  when  he 
reached  northern  Mississippi,  or  the  region  where 
the  people  of  color  were  more  numerous,  I  find 
that  he  issued,  November  n,  1862, —  before  the 
emancipation  proclamation,  and  before  authority 
was  furnished  from  Washington,  and  solely  on  his 
own  conviction  of  the  military  necessity  and  right, — 
an  order  caring  for  the  "  contrabands." 

THE  FIRST  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU. 

Those  of  the  negroes  fleeing  from  slavery  had 
been  not  inaptly  designated  contrabands  of  war 
by  General  Butler.  Those  of  us  who  participated 
in  or  witnessed  these  scenes  can  recall  with  suffi 
cient  vividness  the  exodus  from  slavery  to  liberty 
through  the  Federal  lines  wherever  the  soldiers  in 
blue  appeared.  General  Grant  saw  the  demoralizing 
effect  upon  the  army  of  thousands  of  men,  women  and 

zens  for  permission  to  pass  through  the  camps  to  look  for  fugitive  slaves. 
In  no  case  whatever  will  permission  be  granted  to  citizens  for  this  purpose. 

14 II.  All  slaves  at  Fort  Donelson  at  the  time  of  its  capture,  and  all  slaves 
within  the  line  of  military  occupation  that  have  been  used  by  the  enemy  in 
building  fortifications,  or  in  any  manner  hostile  to  the  Government,  will  be 
employed  by  the  quartermaster's  department  for  the  benefit  of  the  Govern 
ment,  and  will  under  no  circumstances  be  permitted  to  return  to  their 
masters. 

"  III.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  all  officers  of  this  command  to  see  that  all 
slaves  above  indicated  are  promptly  delivered  to  the  chief  quartermaster  of 
the  district. 

"BY  ORDER  OF  BRIG.  GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 
"  JOHN  A.  RAWLINS.  A.  A.  G." 


GRANT    AND    THE    COLORED    RACE.  289 

children  pouring  through  the  camps.  He  recognized, 
too,  the  humane  considerations  which  would  not  allow 
even  in  those  disturbed  and  fearful  scenes,  the  star 
vation  of  those  negroes,  in  regard  to  whom,  as 
slaves,  the  Government  had  not  yet  fixed  its  policy 
Selecting  an  officer  for  the  purpose,  in  special  or-' 
ders  No.  1 5,  dated  Headquarters  1 3th  Army  Corps, 
Department  of  the  Tennessee,  Lagrange,  Tenn., 
Nov.  nth,  1862,  he  directed  this  officer  to  "take 
charge  of  the  contrabands  who  came  into  the  camp, 
organize  them  into  suitable  companies  for  work, 
see  that  they  were  properly  cared  for,  and  set  them 
to  work."  He  ordered  suitable  guards  detailed  for 
their  protection,  and  the  officer  to  report  to  him  in 
person.  He  followed  this  with  ample  orders  to  the 
Commissary  General  and  Quartermaster  General 
for  the  issue  of  rations,  clothing  for  men,  women 
and  children,  and  implements  necessary  for  use  in 
their  labor. 

In  General  Orders  No.  13,  dated  Headquarters 
1 3th  Army  Corps,  Department  of  the  Tennessee, 
Oxford,  Miss.,  i;th  Dec.,  1862 — still  a  month  be 
fore  the  Emancipation  Proclamation — he  made  the 
same  officer,  Colonel  John  Eaton,  Jr.,  General  Su 
perintendent  of  these  affairs  for  the  Department, 
with  authority  to  designate  assistants — and,  in  a 
word,  increasing  his  authority,  specifying  more  fully 
the  details  of  his  duties,  the  kind  of  labor  in  which 
the  contrabands  were  to  be  employed,  and  enforc 
ing  their  compensation.  They  were  to  fill  every 
position  occupied  by  the  soldier,  save  what  depend- 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

ed  upon  his  enlistment.  Their  wives  and  children 
were  to  be  cared  for  and  given  employment  also  as 
far  as  possible. 

Indeed,  looking  over  a  report  of  the  General 
Superintendent,  which  was  printed  in  the  winter  of 
1865,  and  favorably  received  by  the  North  Ameri 
can  Review,  I  find  that  each  military  post  came  to 
have  an  office,  and  that  office  had  one  officer  to 
care  for  supplies  furnished  them,  another  for  the 
enforcement  of  justice  in  their  behalf,  another  for 
their  medical  attendance,  another  for  their  educa 
tion.  All  abandoned  property  was  ordered  to  be 
used  for  them.  In  all  these  benefits,  it  is  to  be  no 
ticed,  white  refugees  shared  also. 

Here  was  the  full  germ  of  the  Freedmen's  Bu 
reau  apparent  in  the  orders  of  General  Grant  be 
fore  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  not  as  a  the 
ory,  but  as  a  practical  solution  of  the  relation  of 
slaves  in  the  South  to  the  suppression  of  the  re 
bellion,  and  in  the  interest  of  the  welfare  of  all 
concerned.  Here,  in  the  midst  of  the  terrible 
scenes  of  war,  still  slaves  so  far  as  law  and  the  ac 
tion  of  Government  are  concerned,  the  poor  fugi 
tives  were,  as  far  as  possible,  protected  in  their 
families  and  lives,  sheltered  and  clothed,  their  sick 
furnished  medicines,  and  the  well  furnished  with 
employment,  that  they  might  learn  self-support. 

ORGANIZING    NEGRO    REGIMENTS. 

After  slavery  was  declared  abolished,  as  spring 
approached,  the  Government  determined  to  employ 


GRANT    AND    THE    COLORED    RACE.  2QI 

the  contrabands  as  soldiers,  and  Adjutant  General 
Thomas  was  sent  out  with  proper  authority  to  or 
ganize  regiments  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Al 
ready  one  company  of  colored  troops  had  been  or 
ganized,  furnished  with  arms  and  put  on  duty. 

General  Grant  was  at  Milliken's  Bend,  La.  His 
General  Order,  No.  25,  in  relation  to  these  black 
soldiers,  says : 

"  Commissaries  will  issue  supplies,  and  quarter 
masters  will  furnish  stores  on  the  same  requisitions 
and  returns  as  are  required  from  the  troops.  It  is 
expected  that  all  commanders  will  especially  exert 
themselves  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of  the  admin 
istration,  not  only  in  organizing  colored  regiments 
and  rendering  them  efficient,  but  also  in  removing 
prejudice  against  them."  Was  this  opposing  the 
organization  of  troops? 

General  Grant,  in  his  letter  to  General  Lee,  Oct. 
19,  1864,  although  declining  to  discuss  the  slavery 
question,  declares,  '*  I  shall  always  regret  the  neces 
sity  of  retaliating  for  wrongs  done  our  soldiers,  but 
regard  it  my  duty  to  protect  all  persons  received  into 
the  army  of  the  United  States,  regardless  of  color 
or  nationality  /" 

I  learn  from  an  ex-officer,  who  was  thoroughly 
cognizant  of  the  facts,  that  in  the  midst  of  the  fear 
ful  labors  around  Vicksburg,  General  Grant  always 
found  time  to  attend  to  the  calls  necessary  to  make 
upon  him  in  regard  to  the  colored  people  or  colored 
troops ;  that  he  gave  every  aid  to  the  development 
of  their  industry  and  the  means  of  their  improve- 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

ment.*  He  favored  no  Utopian  schemes,  and  sought 
apractical  solution  of  every  difficulty,  in  the  way  of 
the  welfare  of  the  colored  people.  It  will  not  be 
forgotten  by  them  that,  when  before  Vicksburg  he 
and  his  associates  in  the  chief  command  of  the 
troops  who  night  and  day  were  pressing  the  siege, 
found  time  to  listen  to  an  extended  report  of  the 
officer  he  had  placed  in  charge  of  our  people  in  the 
November  previous. 

GRANT    TO    LINCOLN. 

This  report  he  afterwards  forwarded  to  President 
Lincoln  with  a  private  letter,  dated  June  n,  1863, 
in  which  he  says :  "  Finding  that  negroes  were  com 
ing  into  our  lines  in  great  numbers,  and  receiving 
kind  or  abusive  treatment,  according  to  the  peculiar 
views  of  the  troops  they  first  came  in  contact  with, 
and  not  being  able  to  give  that  personal  attention 
to  their  care,  and  use  the  matter  demanded,  I  de 
termined  to  appoint  a  General  Superintendent  over 

*  "  A  NEGRO    PARADISE." 

"  One  evening  in  the  midst  of  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  General  Grant  was 
sitting  by  the  trunk  of  a  great  tree  near  his  tent,  talking  to  his  Superintend 
ent  of  Freedmen  of  their  affairs,  telling  him  in  detail  of  a  Great  Bend  in  the 
Mississippi,  25  miles  below  the  town,  indicating  how  easily  it  could  be  pro 
tected,  saying  considerable  portions  of  the  land  then  deserted  was  owned  by 
Jeff.  Davis  and  his  brother,  Joe,  whose  plantation  was  often  visited  as  a  model 
by  foreigners,  suggested  that  his  Bend  should  be  occupied  by  the  freedmen, 
and  be  made  a  "  negro  paradise."  So  it  was.  Soon  it  was  divided  into 
small  farms  for  their  cultivation,  houses  built,  schools  opened,  the  adminis 
tration  of  order  left  chiefly  to  the  colored  people,  and  the  whole  protected 
against  guerrillas  by  colored  troops.  Now,  Joe  Davis's  former  slave  and 
foreman,  one  of  these  free  cultivators  of  the  Bend,  owns  and  successfully 
carries  on  the  Davis  plantation,  having  purchased  it  from  his  former  master." 


GRANT    AND    THE    COLORED    RACE.  293 

the  whole  subject,  and  give  him  such  assistants  as 
the  duties  assigned  him  might  require.  I  have 
given  him  such  aid  as  was  in  my  power,  by  the  pub 
lication  from  time  to  time  of  such  orders  as  seemed 
to  be  required,  and  generally  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Superintendent." 

He  speaks  of  the  results  up  to  that  date  as  of 
great  service  to  the  blacks  in  having  them  provided 
for,  when  otherwise  they  would  have  been  neglected, 
and  to  the  Government  in  finding  employment  for 
the  negro  whereby  he  might  earn  what  he  was 
receiving,  and,  in  closing,  directs  special  attention 
to  the  portion  of  the  report  which  would  suggest 
orders  regulating  the  subject  which  a  Department 
Commander  is  not  competent  to  issue. 

The  officer  who  delivered  this  letter  and  report 
to  Mr.  Lincoln,  states  that  Mr.  Lincoln  received 
them  with  the  greatest  satisfaction,  asking  many 
questions  about  General  Grant's  views  upon  the 
whole  subject  of  the  treatment  of  the  colored  peo 
ple,  and  on  thus  learning  something  in  detail  of 
the  success  of  General  Grant's  plans  and  the  use 
fulness,  in  his  judgment,  of  colored  soldiers,  he  re 
peated  the  expressions  of  his  gratification  that  a 
General  who  was  winning  such  military  successes 
over  the  Rebels  was  able,  from  a  military  stand 
point,  to  give  him  so  many  practical  illustrations 
of  the  benefits  of  the  emancipation  policy. 

WHAT    WAS    DONE    WITH    THE    CONTRABANDS. 

I  find   it  stated  in  a  printed  copy  of  a  letter  to 


294  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

Mr.  Levi  Coffin,  then  in  England,  written  by  the 
General  Superintendent,  and  dated  at  Vicksburg, 
only  a  year  after  its  fall,  that  this  supervision,  em 
bracing  the  territory  within  the  lines  of  our  army, 
from  Cairo,  down  the  Mississippi  to  Red  River,  to 
gether  with  the  State  of  Arkansas, — numbered  in 
its  care,  during  the  past  year,  113,650  freedmen. 

"These  are  now  disposed  as  follows  :  In  military  service,  as  soldiers,  laun 
dresses,  cooks,  officers,  servants  and  laborers  in  the  various  staff  departments, 
41,150;  in  cities,  on  plantations,  and  in  freedmen's  villages  and  cared  for, 
72,500.  Of  these,  62,300  are  entirely  self-supporting — the  same  as  any  in 
dustrial  class  anywhere — as  planters,  mechanics,  barbers,  hackmen,  draymen, 
etc.,  conducting  enterprises  on  their  own  responsibility,  or  as  hired  laborers. 
The  remaining  10,200  receive  subsistence  from  the  Government.  3,000  of 
them  are  members  of  families  whose  heads  are  carrying  on  plantations,  and 
have  under  cultivation  4,000  acres  of  cotton,  and  are  to  pay  the  Government 
for  their  subsistence  from  the  first  income  of  the  crop.  The  other  7,200  in 
cludes  the  paupers  (those  over  and  under  the  self-supporting  age,  the  crippled 
and  sick  in  hospital)  of  the  113,650,  and  those  engaged  in  their  care ;  and, 
instead  of  being  unproductive,  have  now  under  cultivation  500  acres  of  corn, 
750  acres  of  vegetables,  and  1,500  acres  of  cotton — besides  the  work  done  at 
wood-chopping,  etc." 

"  There  are  reported  in  the  aggregate  some  over  100,000  acres  of  cotton 
under  cultivation.  Of  this,  about  7,000  acres  are  leased  and  cultivated  by 
blacks.  Some  of  these  are  managing  as  high  as  300  or  400  acres.  It  is  im 
possible  to  give,  at  the  present  date,  any  definite  statement  of  many  of  the 
forms  of  industry  ;  59,000  cords  of  wood  are  reported  to  me  by  Colonel 
Thomas,  Superintendent  and  Provost  Marshal  of  Freedmen,  as  cut  within 
the  lines  of  no  miles  on  the  river  banks  above  and  below  this  place.  It 
would  be  only  a  guess  to  state  the  entire  amount  cut  by  the  people  under 
this  supervision  ;  it  must  be  enormous.  The  people  have  been  paid  from  50 
cents  to  $2.50  per  cord  for  cutting.  This  wood  has  been  essential  to  the 
commercial  and  military  operations  on  the  river. 

"Of  the  113,650  blacks,  here  mentioned,  13,320  have  been  under  instruc 
tion  in  letters  ;  about  4,000  have  learned  to  read  quite  fairly,  and  about 
2,000  to  write.  So  our  people  were  helped  by  General  Grant's  policy 
through  this  terrible  transition." 

August  1 6, 1864,  General  Grant  wrote  Mr.Wash- 
burne  the   celebrated  letter  so   widely  quoted,  in 


GRANT  AND  THE  COLORED  RACE.       295 

which  he  affirms  that  the  Confederate  leaders  had 
robbed  the  cradle  and  the  grave  to  carry  on  the 
war,  urging  that  our  friends  in  the  North  could 
have  no  hope  for  peace  from  separation ;  and 
among  the  special  reasons  in  reply  to  "peace  on  any 
terms''  he  affirms  that  the  South  would  demand  the 
restoration  of  their  slaves  already  free ;  they  would 
demand  indemnity  for  losses  sustained  ;  they  would 
demand  a  treaty  which  would  make  the  North  slave 
hunters  for  the  South  ;  they  would  demand  pay  for 
every  slave  that  escaped  to  the  North. 

In  his  last  and  noted  order  to  the  great  army, 
dated  June  2,  1865,  General  Grant  distinctly  recog 
nizes  the  good  results  they  had  accomplished ;  af 
firms  that  they  had  "  overthrown  all  armed  oppos 
ition  to  the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  the  pro 
clamation  forever  abolishing  slavery — the  cause  and 
pretext  of  the  rebellion." 

May  we  not  justly  say,  will  it  not  be  the  un 
questioned  sentiment  of  history  that  the  liberty 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  with  his  pen  General 
Grant  made  effectual  with  his  sword — by  his  skill 
in  leading  the  Union  Armies  to  final  victory? 

GRANT'S  EARLY  EXPRESSIONS  CONCERNING   SLAVERY. 

But  I  prefer  that  General  Grant  shall  speak  for 
himself,  by  here  quoting  from  his  private  letter  to 
Mr.  Washburne,  and  published  without  the  Gener 
al's  knowledge  or  permission,  dated  August  30, 
1863,  in  which  he  said  :  "The  people  of  the  North 
need  not  quarrel  over  the  institution  of  slavery. 


296  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

What  Vice  President  Stephens  acknowledges  as 
the  corner-stone  of  the  Confederacy,  is  already 
knocked  out.  Slavery  is  already  dead,  and  cannot 
be  resurrected.  It  would  take  a  standing  army  to 
maintain  slavery  in  the  South,  if  we  were  to  make 
peace  to-day  guaranteeing  to  the  South  all  their 
former  constitutional  privileges. 

"  I  never  was  an  abolitionist — not  even  what 
could  be  called  anti-slavery — but  I  try  to  judge 
fairly  and  honestly,  and  because  patent  to  my  mind, 
early  in  the  rebellion,  that  the  North  and  South 
could  never  live  in  peace  with  each  other  except 
as  one  nation.  As  anxious  as  I  am  to  see  peace 
and  that  without  slavery,  re-established,  I  would  not 
therefore  be  willing  to  see  any  settlement  until  this 
question  is  forever  settled" 

In  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  General 
Grant,  April  30,  1864,  is  this  emphatic  sentence: 
"  I  wish  to  express  in  this  way  my  entire  satisfac 
tion  with  what  you  have  done  up  to  this  time." 

GRANT'S  POLICY  AS  PRESIDENT  TOWARD  THE  NEGROES. 

But  since  he  became  President  how  faithfully 
has  he  carried  out  his  pledges  in  which  the  colored 
race  are  most  directly  interested? 

In  his  Inaugural,  March  4,  1867,  we  find  these 
wise  words,  in  regard  to  suffrage  and  the  i5th 
Amendment: 

"The  question  of  suffrage  is  one  which  is  likely 
to  agitate  the  public  so  long  as  a  portion  of  the 
citizens  of  the  nation  are  excluded  from  its  privi- 


GRANT    AND    THE    COLORED    RACE.  299 

leges  in  any  State.  It  seems  to  me  very  desirable 
that  this  question  should  be  settled  now,  and  I  en 
tertain  the  hope  and  express  the  desire,  that  it 
may  be  by  the  ratification  of  the  i5th  article*  of 
amendment  to  the  Constitution." 

Indeed,  his  language  often  points  to  his  clear 
apprehension  of  the  fact,  that  peace  could  only  be 
fully  restored  by  removing  the  cause  of  disturb 
ance.  In  his  message  in  regard  to  Mississippi  and 
Virginia,  April  7th,  1869,  while  he  urges  the  restor 
ation  of  the  States  to  their  proper  relations  to  the 
Government  as  speedily  as  possible,  he  clearly 
states  that  it  must  be  conditioned  that  the  people 
of  those  States  shall  "be  willing  to  become  peace 
ful  and  orderly  communities,  and  to  adopt  and  ! 
maintain  such  constitutions  and  laws  as  will  effec 
tually  secure  the  civil  and  political  rights  of  all 
persons  within  their  borders." 

True  to  all  his  instincts,  all  his  declarations  and 
acts,  in  his  first  annual  message,  he  has  for  the 
Blacks,  as  freedmen,  a  kind  word,  and  declares,  "the 
freedmen,  under  the  protection  they  have  received, 
are  making  rapid  progress  in  learning,  and  no  com 
plaints  are  heard  of  lack  of  industry  on  their  part 
where  they  receive  fair  remuneration  for  their  labor;" 
and  among  the  reasons  which  he  finds  for  gratitude 
to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  is  a  country  "with  a  pop 
ulation  of  forty  millions  of  free  people,  all  speaking 
one  language ;  with  facilities  for  every  mortal 
to  acquire  an  education ;  with  institutions  closing 

*  For  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  Mr.  Sumner  did  not  vote. 


3OO  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

to  none  the  avenues  to  fame  or  any  blessing  of  for 
tune  that  may  be  coveted ;  with  freedom  of  the 
pulpit,  the  press  and  the  school."  Again,  he  de 
clares  that  the  "second  great  object  of  the  Gov 
ernment  is  to  secure  protection  to  the  person  and 
property  of  the  citizen  of  the  United  States  in 
each  and  every  portion  of  our  common  country, 
wherever  he  may  choose  to  move,  without  reference 
to  original  nationality,  religion,  color,  or  politics, 
demanding  of  him  only  obedience  to  the  laws,  and 
proper  respect  for  the  rights  of  others." 

Though,  as  he  said,  it  is  unusual  to  notify  the 
two  houses  by  message  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
ratification  of  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
yet  he  sent  one  in  regard  to  the  ratification  of  the 
1 5th  Amendment,  in  which  he  said,  "Institutions 
like  ours,  in  which  all  power  is  derived  directly  from 
the  people,  must  depend  mainly  upon  sheir  intelli 
gence,  patriotism  and  industry.  I  call  the  atten 
tion,  therefore,  of  the  newly-enfranchised  race  to 
the  importance  of  their  striving  in  every  honorable 
manner  to  make  themselves  worthy  of  their  new 
privilege.  To  the  race  more  favored  heretofore 
by  our  laws,  I  would  say,  withhold  no  legal  privi 
lege  of  advancement  to  the  new  citizen.  The 
framers  of  our  Constitution  firmly  believed  that  a 
Republican  Government  could  not  endure  without 
intelligence  and  education  generally  diffused  among 
the  people.  'The  Father  of  his  Country,'  in  his 
farewell  address,  uses  this  language :  '  Promote, 
then,  as  a  matter  of  primary  importance,  institu- 


GRANT  AND  THE  COLORED  RACE.       301 

tions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In 
proportion  as  the  structure  of  the  Government 
gives  force  to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that 
public  opinion  should  be  enlightened.'  In  his  first 
annual  message  to  Congress,  the  same  views  are 
forcibly  presented,  and  are  again  urged  in  his  eighth 
message. 

"I  repeat  that  the  adoption  of  the  i5th  Amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  completes  the  greatest 
civil  change  and  constitutes  the  most  important 
event  that  has  occurred  since  the  nation  came  into 
life.  The  change  will  be  beneficial  in  proportion 
to  the  heed  that  is  given  to  the  urgent  recommen 
dations  of  Washington.  If  these  recommenda 
tions  were  important  then,  with  a  population  of 
but  a  few  millions,  how  much  more  important  now, 
with  a  population  of  forty  millions,  and  increasing 
in  a  rapid  ratio. 

"I  would,  therefore,  call  upon  Congress  to  take 
all  means  within  their  constitutional  powers  to  pro 
mote  and  encourage  popular  education  throughout 
the  country ;  and  upon  the  people  everywhere  to 
see  to  it  that  all  who  possess  and  exercise  political 
rights  shall  have  the  opportunity  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  which  will  make  their  share  in  the  gov 
ernment  a  blessing  and  not  a  danger." 

GRANT'S  APPOINTMENTS  OF  COLORED  MEN  TO  OFFICE. 

An  inquiry  into  the  appointments  of  colored  men 
to  office  under  General  Grant,  gives  results  more 
satisfactory  than  I   anticipated.     No  records,  so  far 
18 


3O2  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

as  I  learn,  appear  to  be  kept  of  the  color  of  the 
appointees. 

I  can  only  ascertain  facts  by  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  and  from  the  personal  knowledge  of 
others  acquainted  with  the  appointees.  It  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  fix  the  exact  number,  but  I  find 
them  in  all  Departments  of  the  Civil  Service.  Two 
have  been  appointed  foreign  ministers  ;  several  col 
lectors  of  customs ;  some  assessors  of  Internal 
Revenue ;  and  so  on  down  through  all  the  various 
grades  of  the  service — as  route  agents,  post-mast 
ers,  clerks,  messengers,  etc.,  according  to  the  intel 
ligence  of  the  applicants. 

I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  obtained  the  ex 
act  number  of  colored  appointees.  In  one  Depart 
ment  at  Washington,  I  found  249,  and  many  more 
holding  important  positions  in  its  service  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  country.  In  other  Departments, 
the  facts  ascertained  were  correspondingly  gratify 
ing,  as  I  pursued  the  inquiry  (continues  the 
writer),  meeting  some  new  man  at  every 
step,  and  left  it  satisfied,  as  I  think  any 
colored  man  would  be,  that  there  has  been  a 
hearty  disposition  to  disregard  all  past  prejudices, 
and  treat  us  in  the  matter  of  appointments  accord 
ing  to  our  merits.  The  appointments  to  West 
Point,  as  overcoming  the  army  prejudices,  are  well 
known,  and  too  significant  to  be  overlooked.  In 
deed,  I  closed  the  inquiry  thoroughly  satisfied,  and 
believe  that  any  man  of  my  race  could  be  with  the 
same  facts  before  him,  that,  with  General  Grant  at 


GRANT  AND  THE  COLORED  RACE.       303 

the  head  of  the  Administration  of  the  country,  we 
are  assured  in  due  time,  not  only  of  all  our  rights, 
but  of  all  our  privileges. 

GRANT    TO    THE    CIVIL    RIGHTS    CONVENTION. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  the  following  ex 
cellent  letter  should  be  added  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  CM  May  9,  1872. 

Gentlemen  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  extended  to  me  to  attend  a 
mass  meeting  to  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  securing  civil  rights  for 
the  colored  citizens  of  our  country.  I  regret  that  a  previous  engagement 
will  detain  me  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  par 
ticipate  with  you  in  person  in  your  efforts  to  further  the  cause  in  which  you 
are  laboring.  I  beg  to  assure  you,  however,  that  I  sympathize  most  cordially 
in  any  effort  to  secure  for  all  our  people  of  whatever  race,  nativity,  or  color, 
the  exercise  of  those  rights  to  which  every  citizen  should  be  entitled. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

Here  the  communication  of  the  colored  citizen 
ends.  It  is  by  no  means  exhaustive  of  the  facts 
showing  the  absence  from  General  Grant's  mind  of 
any  sentiment  except  a  kindly  one  for  the  negro 
race.  His  interference  in  behalf  of  the  colored 
troops  during  the  campaign  before  Richmond,  for 
instance,  had  the  effect  to  save  thousands  of  them 
from  being  put  to  work  by  the  Rebels  like  galley 
slaves  upon  the  fortifications.  Learning  that  col 
ored  soldiers  were  being  used  in  this  manner  when 
ever  captured  by  the  Rebels,  General  Grant  im 
mediately  issued  orders  for  the  employment  of  an 
equal  number  of  Confederate  prisoners  upon  the 
Dutch  Gap  canal.  He  of  course  notified  General 
Lee  of  this  retaliatory  measure,  and  the  notification 


304  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

had  the  desired  effect.  It  brought  an  order  for  the 
relief  of  the  colored  Union  prisoners,  and  an  ex 
planatory  letter  from  Lee  to  Grant,  to  which  the 
following  is  Grant's  reply : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

"October  29,  1864. 
"  General  R.  E.  LEE,  C.  S.  A., 

"  Commanding  Army  Northern  Virginia. 

"  General :  Understanding  from  your  letter  of  the  igth,  that  the  colored 
prisoners,  who  are  employed  at  work  in  the  trenches  near  Fort  Gilmer,  have 
been  withdrawn,  I  have  directed  the  withdrawal  of  the  Confederate  prisoners 
employed  in  the  Dutch  Gap  canal. 

"  I  shall  always  regret  the  necessity  of  retaliating  for  wrongs  done  our 
soldiers  ;  but  regard  it  my  duty  to  protect  all  persons  received  into  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  regardless  of  color  or  nationality.  When  acknowledged 
soldiers  of  the  Government  are  captured  they  must  be  treated  as  prisoners  of 
war,  or  such  treatment  as  they  receive  will  be  inflicted  upon  an  equal  number 
of  prisoners  held  by  us. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  discussion  of  the  slavery  question  ;  there 
fore  decline  answering  the  arguments  adduced  to  show  the  right  to  return  to 
former  owners  such  negroes  as  are  captured  from  our  army. 

41  In  answer  to  the  question  at  the  conclusion  of  your  letter,  I  have  to  state 
that  all  prisoners  of  war  falling  into  ,my  hands  shall  receive  the  kindest 
treatment  possible,  consistent  with  securing  them,  unless  I  have  good  author 
ity  for  believing  any  number  of  our  men  are  being  treated  otherwise.  Then, 
painful  as  it  may  be  to  me,  I  shall  inflict  like  treatment  on  an  equal  number 
of  Confederate  prisoners. 

"  Hoping  that  it  may  never  become  my  duty  to  order  retaliation  upon  any 
man  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  I  have  the  honer  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General." 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


THE  SO-CALLED  LIBERAL  MOVEMENT 

How  and  When  it  Originated — The  Grand  Hobby — Attempt  to  Split  the 
Republican  Party  in  1868 — Trumbull's  Backbone  Stiffened — A  Regular 
giege — Approaching  the  Citadel  by  Parallels — Sumner's  Grievance — His 
Ejection  from  the  Senate  Foreign  Affairs  Committee — A  General  Misun 
derstanding — How  it  Happened — The  Civil  Service  Purists — The  Bee  in 
Trumbull's  Bonnet — The  Newspaper  Ring — "We  Four  and  No  More:" 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  schism 
created  and  engineered  by  a  dozen  individuals,  and 
dignified  by  the  name  of  the  "Great  Liberal  Move 
ment,"  originated  in  any  disaffection  growing  out 
of  the  administration  of  the  government  by  Presi 
dent  Grant.  The  movement  had  its  origin  before 
ever  Grant  was  nominated  for  President  by  the 
Chicago  Convention  of  1868.  Its  germ  was  the 
theory  of  Free  Trade,  which  so  disturbed  some  of 
its  more  ardent  advocates  in  the  early  Spring  of 
1868,  that  they  would  then  have  been  very  glad  to 
disrupt  the  Republican  party  and  scatter  to  the 
four  winds  the  glorious  record  of  that  patriotic 

(305) 


306  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

organization,  with  all  the  beneficent  measures  then 
in  the  womb  of  that  party's  future,  for  the  sake  of 
an  opportunity  to  air  themselves  upon  their  favor 
ite  hobby  of  Free  Trade,  or,  as  they  had  then  just 
begun  to  call  it,  Revenue  Reform.  This  was  the 
way  it  was  done : 

^  THE    GAME    IN    1 868. 

/  Early    in   1868,    the    impeachment    of   Andrew 
/  Johnson   came  on.      The    American   Free  Trade 
e,  comprising  among  its  members  the  editors 
the  Chicago  Tribune,  New  York  Evening  Post 
~\nd  Chicago  Evening  Post,  as  well  as  all  the  promi- 
/nent  Democratic  journals,  and  numbering  the  papers 
specified  among  the  most  valued   and  industrious 
of  its  organs,  was  then  just  fairly  launched  in   its 
active  campaign  work,  and,  under  the  leadership  of 
Mahlon  Sands  and  the  editors  above   named,  was 
beginning  a  vigorous  warfare   in  behalf  of  its  vital 
theory. 

It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  conviction  and 
removal  of  Andrew  Johnson  would  leave  in  the 
Presidential  Chair,  for  the  remaining  ten  months  of 
Johnson's  term,  the  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  then 
President  pro  tern  of  the  Senate.  Now,  Wade  was 
a  staunch  Protectionist,  as  indicated  by  his  votes  in 
the  Senate,  and  the  Free  Traders  immediately  saw 
that  it  would  never  do  to  have  him  occupying  the 
Presidential  Chair,  with  an  almost  certainty  of  be 
ing  made  the  Republican  candidate  for  Vice-Pres- 
ident  at  Chicago,  in  May.  Accordingly,  we  saw 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  307 

the  Chicago  Tribune  and  Evening  Post  suddenly 
veer  about,  a  few  days  after  the  Senate  took  the 
trial  of  Johnson  in  hand,  and  enjoin  moderation 
upon  the  Senate  as  earnestly  as  they  had  demanded 
a  red-hot  prosecution  from  the  House  a  fortnight  or 
so  before.  Fortunately  for  their  cause,  there  were 
really  some  very  weak  points  in  the  impeachment 
of  Johnson,  which  presented  a  good  excuse  for  such 
Senators  as  chose,  from  one  motive  or  another, 
to  vote  for  acquittal.  One  of  these  was  Lyman 
Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  who  had,  we  have  no  doubt, 
honest  scruples  about  the  propriety  of  removing 
Johnson  by  force.  Nevertheless,  Trumbull  lacked 
backbone,  and  there  is  no  telling  what  he  would 
have  done,  but  for  the  stiffening  up  which  he  re 
ceived  from  home.  Letters  from  Horace  White, 
and  from  one  other  newspaper  knight  (since  de 
ceased)  whose  support  was  important,  assured 
Trumbull  that  he  would  be  sustained  by  the  (then) 
most  influential  of  the  home  newspapers  of  Re 
publican  name.  Sustained  by  such  assurances, 
Trumbull,  to  the  surprise  of  the  country,  voted 
"nay"  on  the  question  of  Johnson's  conviction.  Of 
the  Republican  Senators,  Grimes,  Fessenden,  Ross, 
Henderson,  Van  Winkle  and  Fowler  voted  with 
him — part  of  them  certainly  from  conscientious  mo 
tives.  By  their  votes  Johnson  was  acquitted,  and 
Ben  Wade  was  kept  out  of  the  Presidential  Chair. 

AT    THE    CHICAGO    CONVENTION. 

Now  for  the  next  act  in  the  drama.     The  reve- 


308  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

nue  "Reformers,"  though  they  had  exorcised  their 
bete  noir  from  the  place  of  authority,  still  were  not 
happy.  There  was  still  a  high  tariff  majority  in 
Congress,  and  was  likely  to  be,  at  least  in  the  Sen 
ate,  for  many  years — perhaps  until  the  anxious 
"  Reformers"  had,  to  quote  the  thought  of  Sidney 
Smith,  wrapped  their  taxed  shrouds  about  them, 
and  lain  down  in  taxed  coffins  to  their  final  rest. 
There  seemed  little  prospect  of  bringing  about  the 
Free  Trade  millenium  so  long  as  the  Republican 
party  continue  to  sit,  like  Mordecai,  at  the  king's 
gate.  The  Democratic  party  was  better  material, 
as  Free  Trade  had  been  one  of  the  vital  dogmas  of 
the  Democrats,  in  their  virtuous  days.  But  the 
Democrats  had  a  war  record  which  would  damn 
them  to  all  eternity,  if  they  should  have  the  temer 
ity  to  keep  fighting  under  their  old  colors.  To 
cleave  a  slice  off  from  the  Republican  party  and 
work  it  over  into  a  grand  hash  along  with  the  cold 
meats  of  the  Democracy,  was  the  problem  of 
Messrs.  Sands,  White,  et  al. 

The  National  Republican  Convention  of  1868 
assembled.  It  was  the  hope  of  the  agitators  that 
a  split  might  be  brought  about  through  a  bolt, 
organized  on  one  of  three  pretexts,  viz : 

1.  The  nomination   of  Wade  for  Vice  President. 

2.  The  adoption  by  the  Convention  of  a  reso 
lution    sharply    censuring    the    seven    Republican 
Senators  who  voted  against  convicting  Johnson. 

3.  The    refusal   of   the   Convention   to  adopt   a 
resolution,  presented   by  Carl  Schurz,  in  favor  of 
the  speedy  enfranchisement  of  the  Rebels. 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  309 

None  of  these  delicately  edged  wedges,  however, 
could  be  made  to  enter  the  glorious  old  trunk.  It 
resisted  them  all.  Wade  was  not  nominated,  the 
resolution  of  censure  was  not  passed,  and  Schurz's 
resolution,  far  from  being  rejected,  or  quarreled 
over,  was  readily  adopted,  notwithstanding  it  was 
irregularly  presented. 

In  short,  the  gentlemen  who  were  waiting  for  a 
rupture  found  the  party  disgustingly  unanimous  and 
enthusiastic ;  so  much  so  as  to  render  hopeless  the 
prospects  of  a  successful  schism  that  year.  The 
idea  was  accordingly  abandoned,  or  rather,  held  in 
abeyance,  while  the  schemers  sought  new  instru 
mentalities  and  new  opportunities.  They  made  a 
sort  of  mock  fight  during  the  campaign  of  1868,  and, 
after  Grant  was  swept  into  the  White  House  on  a 
flood  of  popular  enthusiasm,  the  like  of  which  had 
rarely  been  seen,  they  immediately  proceeded  to 
right  their  foundered  craft,  and  take  advantage  of 
the  reflex  wave  to  get  back  off  the  shoals  on  which 
the  election  had  landed  them. 

THE  NEWSPAPER  SYNDICATE. 

It  was  not  long  before  that  newspaper  "quadri 
lateral,"  which  has  since  become  famous — chiefly 
through  blowing  its  own  trumpet — began  to  take 
form.  This  powerful  concern  has  varied  in  form 
and  magnitude  somewhat  since  commencing  its  op 
erations  for  the  destruction  of  the  Republican 
party.  As  first  organized,  it  consisted  of,  first,  the 
Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican;  second,  the  New 


3IO  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

York  Evening  Post;  third,  the  Cincinnati  Commer 
cial,  and,  fourth,  the  Chicago  Tribune, — the  editors 
of  which,  and  of  the  few  other  journals  which  have 
co-operated  with  them  from  time  to  time,  were  ac 
tuated  by  various  motives.  With  White  and 
Nordhoff  (representing  the  second  and  fourth  of 
the  dailies  named)  the  grand  object  was  Free 
Trade  and  the  disruption  of  the  Republican  party. 
With  Bowles  and  Halstead,  representing  the  two 
others,  it  was  less  a  theory  of  politics  than  a  theory 
of  journalism  which  constituted  the  motive  power. 
They  believed  in  being  independent — in  driving  a 
free  lance — and  they  enjoyed  the  prospect  which 
the  proposed  free  criticism  of  the  administration 
afforded  them  for  making  their  journals  spicy  and 
readable.  Halstead  is  much  more  wanton  than 
Bowles,  and  of  the  last  it  is  but  justice  to  say  that 
his  standard  of  journalism  is  exceptionally  high, 
though  his  views  of  what  is  practicable,  as  well  as 
of  what  is  patriotic,  may  be  erroneous.  He  aims 
to  be  frank  and  fair  in  all  things,  and,  accordingly, 
he  has  not  attempted  in  his  paper,  since  the  mach 
inations  of  the  ring  resulted  in  the  nomination  of 
Greeley,  to  conceal  his  disgust  with  that  nomina 
tion. 

LOVE    FEASTS. 

This  newspaper  ring,  or  syndicate,  soon  began  to 
hold  occasional  meetings  and  compact  themselves 
into  a  tolerably  well  organized  mutual  admiration 
society.  Their  proceedings  were  nominally  in  be- 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  31! 

half  of  Revenue  Reform,  though  afterwards  some 
other  elements,  deemed  available  for  a  Presidential 
canvass,  were  worked  into  the  cake,  as  a  leavening 
or  flavoring  ingredient.  Speaking  of  cakes  reminds 
us  of  the  banquets  which  these  phenomenally  ele 
vated  statesmen-journalists  used  to  hold  at  Del- 
monico's  or  Wormley's,  and  at  which  they  prac 
ticed  bravely  at  the  (to  them)  untried  art  of  ora 
tory.  To  these  conferences  Democratic  editors 
and  politicians,  like  Manton  Marble,  were  admitted ; 
and  it  was  in  cultivating  the  good  graces  of  this 
"syndicate"  that  Charles  Sumner — always  lusting 
after  newspaper  puffs — first  nerved  himself  to  at 
tack  Grant  in  those  bitter  speeches  and  "  inter 
views"  with  newspaper  folk,  which  began  to  appear 
in  the  fall  of  1870. 

BATTERIES    OF    SLANDER. 

Thus  the  "syndicate"  went  on  pecking  away  at  the 
foundations  of  the  Republican  organization,  and 
doing  their  best  endeavors,  by  blows  repeated  seven 
days  in  the  week  and  fifty-two  weeks  in  the  year, 
to  so  weaken  the  grand  old  columns  that  new  ones 
would  have  to  be  put  in  their  place,  and  an  oppor 
tunity  be  thus  afforded  for  the  introduction  of  some 
thing  from  the  "syndicate's"  famous  quarries  for  new 
foundation  stones.  They  never  went  to  press  with 
out  a  cutting  criticism  or  a  sly  inuendo  in  the  edi 
torial  columns,  or  a  whole  volley  of  loosely  con 
structed  slanders  from  their  special  correspondents, 
aimed  at  the  Administration  of  President  Grant. 


3  I  2  THE  STRUGGLE  OF    72. 

In  the  fall  of  1870,  a  very  loud  hue-and-cry  was 
raised  about  Grant's  San  Domingo  scheme,  and  it 
was  freely  charged  in  the  papers  of  the  syndicate 
that  General  Babcock,  one  of  Grant's  quasi  secre 
taries,  who  had  the  most  active  part  in  managing 
the  details  of  the  preliminaries  to  annexation,  was 
corruptly  interested  in  certain  (or  rather  some  very 
uncertain,  vaguely  imagined  and  never  specified) 
financial  speculations,  dependent  on  the  annexation 
of  the  Island.  Charles  Sumner,  who  traversed  his 
record  as  a  negrophilist  in  order  to  make  a  point 
against  the  Administration  which  had  failed  to  ac 
cept  his  dictation  concerning  a  certain  federal  ap 
pointment,  made  a  lecturing  tour  Westward  in  Oc 
tober  and  November,  1870,  during  which  he  dis 
seminated  among  his  admirers,  in  private  conver 
sations,  the  insinuation  that  Grant  himself  had  been 
speculating  in  lots  in  the  Bay  of  Samara.  This 
was  a  lie ;  and  to  take  the  curse  off  it,  when  it  was 
brought  home  to  him  in  the  Senate,  he  perpetrated 
another,  wherein  he  denied  the  paternity  of  the  first. 
The  San  Domingo  matter  was  the  most  meaty 
bone  of  contention  that  the  "syndicate"  got  hold  of 
in  the  whole  weary  three  years  of  waiting  for  such; 
but  they  did  not  scorn  to  accept  less  promising  tri 
fles.  They  criticised  the  financial  policy  of  Bout- 
well  ;  they  criticised  the  President's  appointment 
of  relations  to  office  ;  they  criticised  the  New  York 
Custom  House  through  and  through — criticised 
Grant  because  he  did  not  change  collectors,  and 
criticised  him  all  the  worse  when  he  did  change 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  313 

them;  they  criticised  indiscriminately  the  legisla 
tion  of  Congress,  laid  it  all  to  Grant  and  named  it 
"Grantism,"  knowing  that  Grant  was  the  hardest 
Republican  candidate  for  them  to  beat,  and  feeling 
that  if  they  could  force  him  out  of  the  field  their 
chance  was  good,  with  Democratic  co-operation, 
to  win.  In  short,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
"  syndicate "  allowed  no  act,  either  of  Congress 
or  of  the  administration,  to  pass  by  without  pick 
ing  some  flaw  in  it  and  presenting  its  worst  aspect 
to  the  public. 

CONFUSING    LOCAL    ELECTIONS. 

Another  method  was  resorted  to  in  addition  to 
this  wholesale  and  indiscriminate  misrepresenta 
tion.  This  was  to  confuse  the  issue  in  as  many 
State  and  local  elections  as  possible,  by  organizing 
a  bolt  from  the  regular  Republican  nominations,  and 
a  coalition  with  the  Democrats  on  what  the  bolters 
humorously  termed  a  "Reform"  ticket.  With  the 
help  of  the  sore-heads,  added  to  that  of  the  syndi 
cate  and  the  Democrats  (never  greatly  in  the  mi 
nority  in  large  towns),  the  conspirators  were  able 
sometimes  to  carry  their  ticket  (though  no  reforms 
were  ever  heard  of)  ;  but  they  oftener  failed,  except 
as  the  mere  effort  was  a  success  in  itself,  since  it 
confused  the  questions  before  the  public  and  helped 
a  little  toward  obliterating  the  party  lines  which 
the  people  had  learned  during  the  war  to  recognize 
so  well  as  identical  with  the  lines  between  loyalty 
and  disloyalty.  These  efforts  were,  in  fact,  the  se- 


314  THE    STRUGGLE   OF     72. 

ries  of  parallels  by  which  the  besiegers  of  the  Re 
publican  fortress  proposed  to  approach,  slowly  and 
gradually,  until  they  could  mine  our  works  and 
blow  our  fortifications  and  their  defenders  into  a 
thousand  fragments.  And  so,  perhaps,  they  might 
have  done,  but  for  the  premature  explosion  of  their 
magazine  at  Cincinnati. 

ALLIES  IN  THE  SENATE. 

The  syndicate  captured,  during  the  fall  and  win 
ter  of  1870,  four  Senators,  of  whom,  as  might  be 
expected,  from  what  has  preceded,  Sumner  and 
Trumbull  were  two.  The  others  were  Carl  Schurz, 
whose  first  disaffection  came  about  more  honestly 
and  legitimately  than  that  of  any  of  the  rest,  and 
who  is  still  by  far  the  least  selfish  and  most  ingen 
uous  of  the  quartette  ;  and  one  Tipton,  a  Nebraska 
nobody,  who  abandoned  a  backwoods  pulpit  to 
make  a  clown  of  himself  in  the  more  conspicuous 
arena  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

Bombardment  commenced  in  earnest  in  the  Sen 
ate  during  the  last  session  of  the  Forty-first  Con 
gress,  in  the  winter  of  1870-71.  Sumner  got  out 
his  heavy  siege  gun  and,  loading  it  with  San  Do 
mingo  ammunition,  fired  some  shots  at  the  White 
House  which  were  certainly  intended  to  demolish 
that  edifice  with  all  its  occupants.  Schurz  threw  a 
few  shell,  also,  and  Tipton  brought  his  penny  pop 
gun  to  bear,  with  such  effect  as  might  have  been 
expected.  Sumner  displayed  great  vindictiveness 
in  his  speeches,  and  great  arrogance  and  contempt 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  315 

for  his  fellow  Senators  in  his  method  of  proceed 
ing — dodging  the  rules  of  the  body,  dictating  and 
overbearing  his  colleagues,  and  displaying  all 
the  airs  of  a  demi-god,  along  with  the  tricks  and 
habits  of  a  narrow,  tricky  partisan. 

SUMNER'S  "MARTYRDOM." 

It  was  this  arrogant  and  unpleasant  manner  of 
the  Massachusetts  Senator — something  which  the 
Senate  had  long  felt,  but  which  was,  of  course,  but 
little  alluded  to  in  that  body — which,  as  much  as 
aught  else,  earned  for  Sumner  his  omission  from 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  of  which  he 
had  been  chairman  for  several  terms.  Neverthe 
less,  the  cause  assigned  by  the  caucus  committee 
charged  with  the  making  up  of  the  standing  com 
mittees  was,  not  Mr.  Sumner's  general  factiousness, 
arrogance,  impetuousness  and  personal  vindictive- 
ness,  but  this :  that  he  was  in  notorious  opposition 
to  a  prominent  measure  of  the  Administration,  and 
that  to  make  him  chairman  of  the  committee  which 
was  to  have  this  measure  under  consideration,  and 
be,  in  fact  the  Senate's  agent  therein,  would  be  a 
severe  and  unnecessary  censure  of  the  Administra 
tion.  Another  reason  was  also  alleged,  which  was 
taken  up  with  considerable  effect  by  the  Sumner- 
ites,  viz.,  that  Sumner  was  not  on  speaking  terms 
with  the  Secretary  of  State,  who,  necessarily,  has 
much  to  do  with  the  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  should,  to  make 
the  Government  efficient  and  harmonious  in  its 


316  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    JJ2. 

action  on  foreign  questions,  be  able  to  work  side 
by  side  with  that  official. 

In  spite  of  all  these  reasons,  any  of  which  ought 
to  be  sufficient  for  the  Senate's  electing  another 
man  than  Sumner  to  the  place  if  it  chose,  the  per 
sonal  and  faction  friends  of  that  Senator  succeeded 
in  creating  an  impression  in  the  minds  of  many, 
even  of  those  who  did  not  sympathize  with  Sum- 
ner's  factious  opposition  to  the  Administration,  that 
that  Senator  had  been  "struck  down"  by  a  caucus 
committee  in  very  much  such  an  outrageous  man 
ner  as  he  had  been  struck  down  by  the  ruffian 
Brooks  in  old  chivalry  days.  Among  those  who 
spoke  in  his  behalf  was  Senator  Wilson,  his  col 
league,  a  staunch  Administration  man,  whose  gen 
erous  heart  prompted  him  to  resent  what  was  really 
a  severe  blow  to  his  colleague's  personal  ambition, 
without,  apparently,  considering  that  it  was  a  re 
buke  which  Sumner's  unreasonable  conduct  had 
brought  upon  himself,  and  which  his  unwholesome 
purposes  had  made  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
proper  conduct  of  the  Senate's  business.  If  Sum 
ner  had  been  a  sympathetic,  a  magnanimous,  or  a 
chivalrous  man,  the  answering  qualities  in  his  fellow 
Senators  would  have  gained  him  respite  from  this 
deserved  rebuke.  He  was  not  such  a  man,  and  he 
therefore  failed. 

THE    PRESS    ON    THE    AFFAIR. 

The  act  which  deposed  him  from  his  pet  Com 
mittee  (though  it  was  not  a  deposing,  but  simply 


.g  g.  Senator  for  n^inofe 

7--W 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  317 

a  failure  to  re-elect  to  an  additional  term)  was 
trumpeted  to  the  country  by  the  newspaper  syndi 
cate  as  an  act  of  outrageous  tyranny  and  of  Presi 
dential  vindictiveness.  It  so  happened  that  through 
the  peculiar  predilections  of  the  press,  the  country 
obtained,  generally,  an  erroneous  impression  of  the 
motives  involved  in  this  act.  The  Democratic 
press  and  the  syndicate  had  an  obvious  interest  in 
representing  the  act  as  a  heinous  one,  in  order  that 
it  might  tell  against  Grant  and  the  Republican 
leaders  in  the  Senate ;  and  at  the  same  time  a  ma 
jority  of  the  Republican  press  were  misled  by  their 
old-time  admiration  of  Sumner  as  an  anti-slavery 
orator,  into  sympathizing  with  him  as  they  would 
not  have  clone  if  they  had  known  the  many  facts 
which  Senatorial  courtesy  prevented  from  appear 
ing  in  the  debates.  The  consequence  was  that  Sum 
ner  won  out  of  the  affair  no  little  reputation  as  a 
martyr — a  character  in  which  he  successfully 
figured  until  his  morbid,  malignant,  mis-aimed 
speech  in  the  Senate,  on  the  3Oth  of  May,  1872,  ex 
posed  the  true  character  and  motives  of  the  man. 

THE    SIEGE    CONTINUES. 

The  disorganizers  continued  to  construct  their 
parallels  of  approach  to  the  Republican  citadel. 
Having  seized  a  commanding  position  in  the  Senate, 
they  operated  there  the  most  energetically.  During 
the  last  session  of  Congress,  no  less  than  fifteen  in 
vestigations  into  the  conduct  of  the  government, 
were  under  way  at  Washington  or  elsewhere,  by 

19 


318  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

direction  of  Congress.  These  have  been  already 
alluded  to  in  Chapter  V.  It  is  also  explained  there 
how  they  resulted  in  the  vindication  of  the  Admin 
istration  from  any  serious  blame.  The  most  ma 
lignant  of  these  investigations  were  ordered  on  the 
motion  of  the  renegade  Republicans  of  the  Senate. 
During  the  Spring  session  of  1871,  Mr.  Sumner  had 
made,  in  the  Senate,  no  less  than  eleven  speeches 
on  the  subject  of  San  Domingo — not  counting 
those  which  he  was  continually  seeking  to  smuggle 
into  the  proceedings  in  the  shape  of  preambles  to 
resolutions — a  trick  in  which  he  was  usually  suc 
cessful,  through  the  forbearance  of  the  Senate,  he 
being  a  "  martyr."  These  were  reinforced  by  others 
from  Schurz,  all  of  which  were  faithfully  echoed  by 
the  syndicate. 

What  San  Domingo  was  to  the  disorganizers 
during  the  session  of  '71,  the  French  arms  sale  was 
during  that  of  '72  ;  the  hope,  on  the  part  of  the 
"  Liberals,"  being  that  they  might  find  material,  in 
the  sale  of  damaged  or  superannuated  ordnance  to 
the  French,  to  excite  the  enmity  of  the  German 
voters  of  this  country  against  the  Administration. 

TRUMBULL. 

Senator  Trumbull  did  not  fail  to  put  in  an  ap 
pearance,  when  occasion  offered,  as  alight  skirmisher 
upon  the  flanks  of  the  Republican  army.  The 
hobby  upon  which  Trumbull  rode  oftenest  was 
State  Rights.  Mounted  upon  this,  or  upon  the 
chair  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  he  was  able  to 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  319 

discern  quibbles  of  "  unconstitutionality"  and 
masked  batteries  of  Federal  usurpation  where  two 
or  three  years  before,  he  would  have  sworn  the 
field  was  as  clear  as  a  June  morning.  Trumbull's 
status  in  July,  1871,  is  to  be  learned  from  an  "in 
terview"  published  in  the  Chicago  Tribune,  his 
special  organ,  and  hence  assumed  to  be  authentic. 
In  that  interview,  he  seems  to  forget  the  State 
Rights  trouble,  which  had  attracted  so  much  of  his 
solicitude  in  the  Senate,  and  which  has  since  come 
to  form  the  only  distinctive  plank  in  the  platform 
of  J:he  new  party.  He  is  reported  thus : 

Trumbull—"  I  think  the  great  question  of  the  Presidential  campaign  will 
be  the  finances,  taxation,  and  civil  service  reform.  These  subjects  are  upper 
most  in  the  minds  of  the  people." 

"  Is  Secretary  Boutwell's  policy  popular  here  in  the  West  ?" 

Trumbull — "  Yes,  to  some  extent  it  is.  I  don't  altogether  believe  in  it 
myself,  but  still  there  are  a  great  many  people  who  feel  proud  of  the  manner 
in  which  Boutwell  is  paying  off  the  debt.  I  think  it  a  mistake  to  keep  so 
much  gold  in  the  Treasury  and  to  use  it  in  buying  our  indebtedness.  It  is  a 
wonder  somebody  has  not  assailed  the  policy  of  the  Secretary  going  into  the 
market  and  buying  the  government  indebtedness  'at  a  discount." 

"  The  last  government  loan  seems  to  be  a  failure." 

Trumbull — "Yes,  I  expected  as  much.  You  see  the  trouble  is  men  won't 
give  up  a  6  per  cent,  bond  for  a  5  or  a  4,  not  if  they  can  help  it.  Besides, 
our  government  should  first  improve  its  credit  at  home  before  it  goes  abroad 
to  borrow  money.  We  have  a  currency  consisting  of  promises  to  pay,  and 
no  provision  made  to  pay  them.  We  should  first  of  all  bring  these  up  to  the 
gold  standard.  That  would  improve  our  credit.  On  the  whole,  however, 
Boutwell's  management  of  the  Treasury  gives  very  general  satisfaction.  It 
will  be  the  trump  card  of  the  administration  when  it  comes  before  the  people 
for  a  verdict.  There  is  a  general  conviction  that  the  revenue  is  more  faith 
fully  collected  than  ever  before,  and,  as  I  said,  the  people  feel  a  good  deal  of 
pride  in  this  matter  of  paying  off  the  debt." 

He  then  points  out  to  his  amanuensis,  the  faith 
ful  reporter,  the  evils  of  the  civil  service.  He  is 
then  questioned  about  the  Presidency,  and  replies 


32O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

that  it  looks  as  if  the  Republicans  had  settled 
down  upon  Grant  for  renomination ;  "  but,"  he 
adds — and  here  the  Trumbullian  eye  must  have 
twinkled  with  anticipation  of  what  came  so  near 
happening  at  Cincinnati — "you  can't  tell  what  may 
happen  in  a  year."  And  he  presently  adds,  after 
an  intervening  interrogatory  or  two,  "It  is  too  early 
in  my  judgment,  to  predict  who  will  be  the  nominee 
of  the  Republican  party."  From  this,  it  is  obvious 
that  Trumbull  then  felt  confident  that  some  con 
servative  statesman,  whose  initials  were  L.  T.,  could 
be  forced  upon  the  Republican  Convention  of  1872 
by  bringing  the  parallels  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
making  the  fire  of  bombardment  hotter  and  hotter 
through  the  next  session  of  Congress. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  SO-CALLED  LIBERAL  MOVEMENT. 


(CONTINUED.) 

The  Ring  Reinforced — Greeley  gets  a  Bee  in  his  Bonnet,  too — The  Possum 
Policy  of  the  Democrats — The  Blair  Family  Smell  the  Battle  Afar  Off— 
The  Movement  Begins  in  Missouri — Some  of  the  Pioneers — Sore-heads — 
The  Cincinnati  Convention  Called — The  Response — The  Spring  Elec 
tions — The  Democracy  Weakens  Perceptibly — Greeley  Smiles  upon  the 
Movement. 


By  this  time  the  newspaper  syndicate  had  been 
reinforced  by  several  valuable  allies.  Horace  Gree 
ley  himself  had  joined  them  for  one.  The  way  in 
which  he  became  converted  to  their  cause,  through 
his  own  ambition  to  be  President,  will  be  told  in 
that  portion  of  this  book  which  we  have  devoted 
to  the  personal  history  of  Mr.  Greeley.  The  fact 
must  be  mentioned  here,  however,  that  since  the 
summer  of  1871,  when  Greeley  returned  from  the 
South,  imbued  with  the  idea  that  he  was  personally 
stronger  there  than  any  other  public  man,  his  Trib 
une  had  nothing  favorable  to  say  of  Grant's  Ad 
ministration  ;  and  the  vials  of  wrath  which  it  had 
so  carefully  husbanded  when  Tammany  needed  de 
nunciation,  were  emptied  out  upon  the  New  York 
Custom  House  and  upon  the  National  Administra- 


322  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    J2. 

tion,  as  the  responsible  guardian  thereof.  One  or 
two  journals,  hitherto  Democratic,  also  whispered 
that  they  could  be  counted  upon,  in  whatever  hazard, 
as  partners  in  the  formation  of  a  new  party  under 
a  name  other  than  that  which  the  ancient  Democ 
racy  has  so  long  abused.  These  journals  were  the 
Missouri  Republican  and  the  Louisville  Courier- 
Journal,  the  former  of  which,  at  any  rate,  had  a 
record  unquestionably  and  unvaryingly  Demo 
cratic. 

THE    DEMOCRATS   PASSIVE. 

This  promise  of  passivism  on  the  part  of  the 
Democrats  was  soon  acquiesced  in  by  nearly  all 
the  influential  papers  of  that  party,  including  the 
World,  of  New  York,  and  the  Times,  of  Chicago; 
by  several  prominent  politicians,  also,  though  the 
Simon-pure  old  hunkers — wheelhorses  of  the  party 
coach — were  slow  to  give  in  their  adherence.  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Jr.,  who  had  served  the  Democrats 
once  or  twice  by  lending  them  the  name  of  the 
Adams  family  (very  much  as  the  profligate  Charles 
Surface  proposed  to  serve  a  boon  companion  by 
selling  his.  ancestors'  pictures),  wrote  an  able  letter, 
which  was  published  in  the  Missouri  Republican 
of  the  29th  of  November,  1871,  favoring  what  had 
then  come  to  be  known  as  the  "Missouri  Policy." 
It  was  otherwise  designated  as  the  Passive  Policy, 
or  "Possum  Policy" — the  latter  phrase  referring 
aptly  to  the  habit  of  the  opossum  to  play  dead,  as  a 
strategem  to  escape  punishment  for  his  depreda- 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  323 

tions.  Montgomery  Blair,  who,  ever  since  being 
turned  out  of  Lincoln's  cabinet,  had  yearned  for 
an  opportunity  to  crush  the  Republican  party  be 
tween  his  thumb  and  finger  and  the  thumbs  and 
fingers  of  the  rest  of  the  Blair  family,  also  wrote 
a  letter  which  was  published  in  the  World  of  De 
cember  8th,  advocating  a  passive  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  Democrats. 

THE    TOCSIN    SOUNDS. 

The  first  note  of  the  "  Liberal"  campaign  of  1872 
was  sounded  in  December,  1871.  This  was  the  call 
of  William  M.  Grosvenor  and  other  members  of 
the  Missouri  Liberal  Republican  party,  so-called, 
for  a  convention  of  that  party,  to  be  held  at  Jef 
ferson  City  on  the  24th  day  of  January  for  purposes 
of  organization,  etc.  The  idea  of  a  Liberal  party 
had  its  origin  in  the  disappointment  of  Gratz  Brown 
and  others  who  were  defeated  as  candidates  before 
the  regular  State  Republican  convention  of  1870, 
and  who  therefore  formed  a  coalition  with  the 
Democrats  and  lately  enfranchised  Rebels,  with 
Brown  as  their  candidate  for  Governor.  This  co 
alition  was  merely  temporary  ia  its  nature  and  pur 
pose  ;  but  it  worked  so  well,  and  its  Republican 
members  were  so  likely  to  be  ostracised  by  their 
party  henceforth,  that  a  portion  of  the  members  of 
the  central  committee,  and  nearly  all  the  State  of 
ficers  whom  the  coalition  had  elected,  determined  to 
perpetuate  the  arrangement,  if  possible.  Grosvenor, 
who  headed  the  call  above  referred  to,  was  an  earn- 


324  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

est  Revenue  Reformer  and  a  politician  of  the  dil- 
letante  order,  who  had  been  discharged  from  the 
editorship  of  the  St.  Louis  Democrat,  and  who  had 
become  very  bitter  against  the  Republican  organ 
ization.  He  afterwards,  from  lack  of  other  occu 
pation,  became  the  principal  working  manager  of 
the  "  Liberal"  schism,  with  his  headquarters  at 
Washington. 

The  call  for  the  Missouri  convention  of  January 
24th  was  signed  by  fifteen  members  of  the  State 
Liberal  Committee  (the  other  members  claiming 
that  their  authority  as  a  committee  had  terminated 
with  the  campaign  of  1870)  and  by  B.  Gratz  Brown 
and  twenty-five  other  members  of  the  State  Gov 
ernment  or  the  Legislature.  It  was  an  eloquent 
document ;  its  signers  lashed  themselves  into  patri 
otic  fury  with  such  invocations  as  these  : 

"  It  is  our  proud  duty  not  to  retreat  from  the  field  of  our  triumph,  but  to 
beckon  forward  the  hosts  of  liberalism  in  other  States  to  the  overthrow  of 
that  Radical  domination  which,  in  the  nation  even  more  than  in  the  State, 
wars  against  vital  principals  of  true  republicanism. 

"  The  honest  men  of  all  parties  may  unite  in  a  victorious  assault  upon  the 
greatest  combination  of  all,  that  which  sits  enthroned  at  Washington  with  a 
sceptre  ready  for  its  grasp,  enriching  favorites  by  monopolies  and  grants, 
wielding  government  patronage,  and  dictating  to  States  in  elections  and  con 
ventions. 

"  The  time  seems  .to  us  ripe  for  an  uprising  of  the  people,  in  kind  not  un 
like  that  which  swept  this  State  in  1870.  Look  where  you  will,  from  county 
to  county,  and  from  State  to  State,  the  men  who  have  been  prominent  in 
shaping  policies  and  moulding  public  opinion  are  waiting  for  some  movement 
that  shall  give  promise  of  a  brighter  future,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

The  Convention  was  held ;  was  a  respectable 
gathering;  and  resulted  in  the  call  for  the  Cincin 
nati  Convention,  to  meet  on  the  ist  of  May,  a  little 
over  a  month  before  the  time  fixed  for  the  as- 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  325 

sembling  of  the  Republican  Convention  at  Phila 
delphia. 

THE    MALCONTENTS    OF    1872    AND     1864. 

This  Cincinnati  Convention  has  been  compared 
with  that  of  Cleveland,  in  1864,  at  which  John  C. 
Fremont  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency.  The 
circumstances  of  the  two  have,  indeed,  many  points 
of  similarity.  The  ostensible  design  of  this  one 
was  to  prevent  the  renomination  of  Grant  by  the 
Republicans.  The  design  of  that  was  to  head  off 
the  renomination  of  Lincoln  by  the  same  party. 
Each  was  called,  therefore,  a  short  time  in  advance 
of  the  convention  whose  action  it  was  sought  to 
influence.  The  callers  of  the  Cleveland  gathering 
were  loud  in  their  denunciation  of  the  "  imbecile 
and  vacillating  policy"  of  Lincoln's  Administration 
and  demanded  prompt  measures  to  "rescue  the  im 
periled  nationality,  and  the  cause  of  impartial,  uni 
versal  freedom,  threatened  with  betrayal  and  over 
throw."  Similarly,  the  Cincinnati  callers  lashed 
themselves  into  fury  over  the  usurpation,  the  cor 
ruption,  and  manifold  other  alleged  sins  of  the  ex 
isting  Administration.  And  the  personnel  of  the 
two  enterprises  was  largely  the  same.  Gratz  Brown 
was  a  prominent  figure  in  each ;  so  was  John  Coch- 
rane,  of  New  York,  the  crazy  secessionist  Demo 
crat  of  1 86 1,  the  equally  crazy  Radical  of  1864, 
and  the  still  more  crazy  Conservative  of  1872  ;  and, 
it  may  be  added,  the  favorite  fugleman  of  Greeley 
on  nearly  all  occasions,  and  the  trustworthy  patriot 


326  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

on  none.  Another  name  on  the  Cleveland  call  was 
that  of  Cluseret,  the  French  Communist,  whose 
cowardice  alone  saved  his  neck  from  the  halter. 
Again,  Horace  Greeley  took  an  exceedingly  favor 
able  interest  in  each  of  these  malcontent  gather 
ings  ;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  this,  as 
Mr.  Greeley  is  understood  to  favor  all  bolts  by 
"natural  selection,"  as  Darwin  would  say. 

The  Cleveland  Convention  proved  a  most  la 
mentable  farce.  Fremont  was  nominated  for  Pres 
ident,  and  resigned  his  commission  as  Major-Gen 
eral  in  the  army;  and  the  rattlehead,  Cochrane, 
was  set  up  for  Vice- President,  as  the  rattlehead, 
Brown,  has  since  been  set  up.  The  result  upon 
the  Baltimore  Convention  of  1864  was  indicated 
by  the  unanimous  renomination  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  save  for  the  dissenting  vote  of  Missouri.  It 
became  evident  that  Fremont  could  not  muster  a 
single  electoral  vote.  Then  Greeley,  with  infinite 
effrontery,  wrote  to  the  Republican  Governors  of 
States,  proposing  the  withdrawal  of  Fremont  if  the 
Republicans  would  consent  to  the  withdrawal  of 
Lincoln,  who  (Greeley  was  sure)  could  never  be 
re-elected !  Fremont  himself  soon  saw  the  ridicu 
lousness  of  his  situation  and  took  himself  out  of 
the  way. 

The  parallel  referred  to  between  the  Cleveland 
and  Cincinnati  Convention,  does  not  continue 
throughout,  since  the  latter  had  a  much  better  re 
course  to  a  combination  with  the  enemy,  which 
course,  indeed,  the  leaders  of  the  movement  greatly 
preferred  for  reasons  already  hinted  at. 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  327 


THE    DEMOCRACY    AGAIN. 

Nor  was  the  Democracy  at  all  loath  to  avail  itself 
of  the  advantage  of  a  coalition.  The  Spring  elec 
tions  in  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  did  not 
serve  to  strengthen  their  faith  in  their  ability  to 
combat  the  Republicans  successfully.  Up  to  April 
the  most  of  the  party  organs  had  apparently  main 
tained  the  idea  that,  with  the  help  of  the  persistent 
criticism  and  slanders  which  the  Disorganizers  had 
been  heaping  upon  the  Administration  of  President 
Grant,  the  Democrats  might  still  hope  to  beat  the 
old  enemy  against  whom  they  had  contended  so 
long  and  so  pluckily  in  vain ;  but  with  the  decision 
of  the  New  Hampshire  election,  this  hope  utterly 
vanished.  Of  the  four  principal  organs  of  the 
Democracy  in  the  country — The  New  York  World, 
the  Chicago  Times,  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  and 
the  Missouri  Republican — the  last  named  had  for 
months  been  favoring  the  Passive  policy ;  the  oth 
ers  responded  to  New  Hampshire  in  these  words: 
The  World: 

"The  Democratic  party  is  satisfied  with  this  result.  It  confirms  the  cer 
tainty  of  Grant's  renomination,  precludes  the  taking  up  of  any  other  candi 
date  who  might  reunite  the  Republican  party,  and  though  last  not  least,  it 
removes  the  last  vestige  of  danger  that  any  portion  of  the  Democratic  party 
will  protest  against  the  complete  abandonment  of  dead  issues." 

The  Times: 

"It  is  a  circumstance  tending  to  convince  even  the  most  irrational  and 
pig-headed  of  Democrats  that  the  political  organization  called  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  is  utterly  and  irredeemably  powerless  to  achieve  a  change  in 
the  Federal  Administration.  It  is  a  fact  proving,  to  the  full  extent  that  it 
proves  anything,  that  however  much  a  considerable  body  of  liberal-minded 
Republicans  may  dislike  the  military  President  and  his  military  regime,  they 


328  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

dislike  the  Democratic  party  more.  It  is  needless  for  any  Democratic  ab 
stractionist  to  say  that  they  are  influenced  by  unreasonable  prejudices.  What 
is  to  be  considered  is  the  fact ;  not  whether  the  causes  of  the  fact  are  rational 
or  irrational." 

The  Enquirer  was  at  first  disposed  still  to  hold 
out,  and  urged : 

"It  is  not  in  this  little  and  remote  New  England  State  that  the  great  bat 
tle  of  1872  is  to  be  fought,  but  is  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Missouri  that  the  contest  will  be  decided.  It  is  in  those  States, 
with  a  different  population  from  New  England,  that  we  shall  win." 

But  this  journal  soon  after  wheeled  into  the 
Passive  line,  and  put  on  so  docile  a  demeanor,  that 
it  was  e'en  willing,  or  at  least  ready,  to  take  up 
Greeley  himself,  as  the  bearer  of  the  coalition 
standard. 

Mr.  Greeley  received  the  call  of  the  Missouri 
malcontents  with  a  mixture  of  real  smiles  and  sinv- 
ulated  frowns.  In  his  paper  of  the  2Qth  of  Janu 
ary,  he  said : 

"  The  Tribune  is  likely  to  be  against  the  Bolters,  since  they  are  almost 
certain  to  make  hostility  to  Protection  one  of  the  planks  of  their  platform, 
and  that  the  Tribune  can  never  abide,  no  matter  who  may  be  the  rival  candi 
dates  for  President.  Now  that  Emancipation  is  a  fixed  fact,  Impartial  Suf 
frage  nearly  so,  and  Universal  Amnesty  inevitable,  there  is  no  remaining 
National  issue  which  is  half  so  important  in  the  view  of  the  Tribune  as  that 
of  Protection  vs.  Free  Trade.  We  have  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  over 
throw  of  Protection  would  be  speedily  followed  (as  in  1816-20,  and  again  in 
I833-'7)  by  a  sweeping  industrial  collapse  and  commercial  bankruptcy,  which 
would  carry  hunger  and  distress  into  the  homes  of  millions  of  our  country 
men.  To  such  a  calamity  the  Tribune  cannot  contribute,  even  passively,  for 
anyconceivable  consideration." 

This  does  not  seem  very  favorable  to  the  Dis- 
organizers,  of  whose  platform  Free  Trade  was  cer 
tainly  the  corner-stone ;  but  the  sting  was  taken  out 
of  his  rebuke  of  this  feature  by  the  paragraphs 
which  followed,  and  in  which  Mr.  Greeley  handled 


THE    SO-CALLED    LIBERAL    MOVEMENT.  329 

very  roughly  the  conduct  of  the  Administration 
and  the  policy  of  Congress,  adding,  in  his  excla 
matory  style,  "  Men  and  brethren  !  a  new  leaf  must 
be  turned  over,  or  there  are  breakers  ahead.  The 
proposed  Cincinnati  Convention  may  prove  a 
fiasco,  or  it  may  name  the  next  President" ;  and 
hinting  that  if  "  Roscoe  Conkling  &  Co."  are  al 
lowed  to  run  the  "  Grant  machine"  a  few  months 
longer,  it  will  be  all  up  with  the  Republican  party, 
and  that  Cincinnati  will  surely  win.  Altogether, 
this  editorial  of  Greeley's  forms  a  congeries  of  in 
consistencies,  like  his  political  record  in  the  large. 
Under  such  auspices  the  Cincinnati  Convention 
assembled.  Its  proceedings  will  form  the  subject 
of  the  next  two  chapters. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE   CINCINNATI    CONVENTION. 

The  Place— Gathering  of  the  Clans— No  Concert  of  Action— The  Tariff 
Question — The  Rival  Candidates— Greeley's  Name  Received  with  Laugh- 
ter— The  Davis  Hordes— Caucuses  of  the  Syndicate— Opening  of  the 

Convention — A  Side  Show — Row   in   the   New  York  Delegation How 

Greeley's  Strikers  Captured  that  Body— Flank  Movements— A  Woman  in 
the  Case — Trouble,  of  Course — A  Turbulent  Session — Permanent  Organ 
ization — Carl  Schurz's  Speech — Good  Advice  which  was  Not  Followed. 

The  selection  of  Cincinnati  as  the  place  of  hold 
ing  the  soi  disant  liberal  convention  was  most 
agreeable  to  the  people  of  that  city.  For  this, 
there  were  various  reasons,  some  of  propriety,  oth 
ers  of  interest.  The  "  new  departure"  had  taken 
place  from  this  point  not  so  many  months  before 
that  it  had  slipped  the  memories  of  observant  pol 
iticians.  This  city  and  vicinity  was  a  hot-bed  of 
discontent  with  the  present  Administration.  The 
region  abounded  with  the  flash  element  in  politics. 

There  were  lawyers  of  repute,  ambitious  of  na 
tional  distinction,  like  ex-Judges  Hoadley,  Stello, 
and  Matthews,  in  neither  of  whom  inhered  persist 
ency  of  purpose,  or  qualities  that  command  per 
manent  success.  Their  sworn  allegiance  to  any 

(330) 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  331 

cause  was  the  sure  precurser  01  its  speedy  down 
fall  and  decay.  Judge  Stallo,  representing  the  ex 
treme  phases  of  German  freedom  of  thought,  has 
never  been  trammeled  by  church  or  party.  To 
these  effervescent  orators  was  added  Judge  Cox, 
an  excellent  gentleman  and  average  lawyer,  but  not 
above  revenge  for  offended  vanity,  and  willing  to 
accept  any  honorable  means  to  compass  the  defeat 
of  Grant. 

THE    LOCAL    PRESS. 

The  newspapers  of  the  Queen  City  were  leav 
ened  with  discontent.  The  Enquirer  being  a  Dem 
ocratic  journal,  was  the  hereditary  enemy  of  the 
incumbent  of  the  Presidential  office.  The  Com 
mercial,  a  fierce  iconoclast,  was  eager  for  any 
thing  that  seemed  to  promise  the  loss  of  others 
and  its  own  gain.  Even  the  Gazette  was  known 
to  desire  a  change  of  national  standard-bearers, 
although  hoping  it  would  be  effected  within  the  old 
organization.  The  Germans  of  Northern  Ohio, 
like  all  their  countrymen  in  the  United  States,  for 
obvious  reasons,  are  directly  influenced  and  con 
trolled  by  the  journals  published  in  their  language. 
Whatever  sparks  of  discontent  were  latent  among 
them  had  been  assiduously  fanned  into  flame  by 
the  Volksblatt,  Courier,  and  Volksfreund,  the 
three  daily  German  newspapers  of  the  city.  Fred 
Hassaurek,  editor  of  the  first,  is  an  ex-office-holder 
of  long  standing,  and  has  had  ever  an  eye  for 
spoils.  The  Courier,  an  infant  newspaper,  just 


332  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

beginning  to  walk  the  devious  paths  of  journalism, 
had  its  own  reasons  for  desiring  a  change  in  the 
national  management.  The  Volksfreund  was  Dem 
ocratic,  and  an  old  and  bitter  enemy  of  the  party 
in  power. 

LOCAL    FUSION    OF    PARTIES. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  country  were  the  two  great 
national  parties  so  ready  for  fusion.  One  State 
Democratic  Convention  had  adopted  a  platform 
expressing  desire  for  conciliation  and  compromise, 
and  the  party  had  once  suffered  defeat  on  the  issues 
of  the  new  departure  in  a  gubernatorial  canvass. 
To  offset  this  reverse,  there  had  been  a  local  victory 
upon  a  united  ticket  of  rather  pronounced  char 
acter.  The  convention  was  therefore  sure  of  a  cer 
tain  amount  of  local  support  and  sympathy  in  case 
its  action  was  sound  and  sensible.  If  a  body  of 
men  which  was  to  give  voice  to  the  opposition  to 
Grant,  and  place  a  candidate  in  the  field  to  defeat 
him,  could  not  find  moral  encouragement  and  as 
sistance,  and  accomplish  its  results  with  eclat  in 
Cincinnati,  the  weakness  of  the  cause  which  it 
espoused  would  be  at  once  apparent,  and  its  fall 
assured. 

WANT    OF    CONCERTED    ACTION. 

The  circumstances  under  which  the  convention 
assembled  were  anomalous.  When  such  bodies 
gather  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  their  pol 
icy  is  generally  foreshadowed.  If  the  delegations 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  333 

from  the  various  States  are  not  definitely  and 
openly  instructed,  their  predelictions  become  known 
through  some  of  the  many  channels  by  which  pri 
vate  political  sentiment  reaches  the  public  and  be 
comes  its  property.  In  the  present  instance  all 
was  different.  The  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  Ad 
ministration  was  merely  inchoate  and  unformed.  The 
antipathy  of  the  press  was  sporadic,  although  per 
sonally  virulent  wherever  developed.  A  political 
change  was  hoped  for,  and  in  that  change  many 
hoped  to  come  to  the  surface.  How  strong  the 
opposition  to  Grant  might  be  in  special  localities, — 
what  private  ambitions  would  be  developed — to 
ward  what  candidates  for  office  the  majority  would 
incline, — who  would  be  strongest  with  the  masses, — 
were  questions  that  must  be  asked  and  answered, 
without  any  existing  data  for  sound  reasoning* 
The  opponents  of  the  Administration  had  not  even 
settled  upon  their  grievances. 

What  was  to  be  done  was  to  find  a  common  basis 
of  action,  and  feasible  means  of  carrying  out  their 
designs.  Those  who  had  special  measures  to  the 
support  of  which  they  desired  to  win  the  new  party, 
as  personal  interests  to  aggrandize,  came  upon  the 
ground  early.  Rooms  were  engaged  at  the  hotels 
two  or  three  weeks  in  advance  by  representatives 
of  various  States,  and  they  were  soon  filled.  With 
praiseworthy  hospitality  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati 
opened  the  doors  of  private  houses  to  receive 
strangers.  Quarters  for  the  ample  accommodation 
of  several  thousand  guests  were  soon  placed  at  the 

20 


334  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

disposal    of  the    committee  having    the  matter  in 
charge. 

MISSOURI    DELEGATION. 

The  Missouri  delegation,  headed  by  Grosvenor, 
were  the  first  active  partisans  in  the  city.  They 
came  in  the  interest  of  Gratz  Brown,  whom  they 
hoped  to  put  upon  the  ticket  as  a  candidate  for 
president.  They  took  rooms  at  the  St.  James, 
where  they  kept  their  camp  fires  burning  from  dawn 
until  after  midnight.  Among  the  early  arrivals  with 
Colonel  Grosvenor  were  Mr.  Enos  Clark,  one  of  the 
earliest  movers  in  the  emancipation  cause  in  Mis 
souri,  Joe  Pulitzer,  editor  of  the  Westliehe  Post,  of 
St.  Louis,  and  General  John  McNeil,  whose  connec 
tion  with  the  shooting  of  certain  guerrillas  at  Pal 
myra,  Missouri,  early  in  the  rebellion,  has  made  his 
name  historical.  Considering  themselves  the  pa 
rents  of  the  Liberal  movement,  the  delegation  for 
awhile  labored  under  the  delusion  that  their  points 
could  be  easily  carried.  Logic  that  militated  against 
their  favorite  candidate  was  most  distasteful. 

They  arrived  about  the  26th  of  April,  and  as 
delegates,  were  thus  limited  in  number,  received  for 
several  days  the  almost  exclusive  attentions  of  the 
reporters  of  the  city  press.  What  Grosvenor 
thought,  and  said,  and  prognosticated,  was  supposed 
to  have  more  than  the  reliability  of  ancient  pro 
phecy,  and  to  be  pregnant  with  the  fate  of  the  nation. 
It  formed  for  many  days,  while  opinions,  and  pro 
jects  were  crystallizing,  the  stock-in-trade  of  the 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  335 

local  papers,  and  of  the  correspondents  of  the  press 
of  other  cities,  whom  a  keen  desire  for  news  had 
brought  thus  early  to  the  front  of  battle.  Brown 
never  had  any  chances  for  the  nomination,  but  his 
friends  did  not  perceive  it  until  his  name  was  fairly 
fetid  in  the  nostrils  of  the  convention. 

FREE    TRADE   ARRIVALS. 

The  parlors  of  the  Missouri  delegation  at  the 
St.  James  were  made  glad  by  the  cheerful  presence 
of  several  free-traders  from  the  East,  who  came 
thither  because  of  the  declared  proclivities  of  the 
former  in  the  same  direction.  The  first  arrivals  of 
this  kind  were  Mahlon  Sands,  Secretary  of  the 
National  Free  Trade  League, and  Henry  D.Lloyd, 
a  fair-faced,  juvenile  attache  of  the  same  organiza 
tion.  Prime,  of  the  Illinois  branch  of  the  same 
association,  came  soon  afterwards.  Atkinson,  Bird 
and  Davis,  of  Massachusetts,  of  similar  sympathies, 
and  with  faces  of  characteristic  Boston  thinness, 
came  on  Saturday  evening,  the  same  train  bringing 
David  A.  Wells,  an  almost  maternal  fondness  for 
foreign  pig-iron  being  the  ruling  passion  in  his 
breast.  Other  prominent  free-traders  came  from 
Missouri,  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Chicago 
on  the  last  day  of  the  week,  making  it  apparent 
that  whatever  occurred,  those  who  favored  revenue 
reform  did  not  intend  that  their  case  should  go  by 
default.  They  seemed  determined  that  this  their 
great  and  perhaps  only  opportunity  should  not  be 
missed. 


336  THE    STRUGGLE   OF   '72. 


ILLINOIS    DELEGATION. 

The  Illinois  delegation,  bearing  the  banner  of 
Judge  David  Davis  with  much  clamor,  was  the  sec 
ond  to  appear  upon  the  scene.  Their  forces  were 
the  best  organized  upon  the  ground,  their  leaders 
being  politicians,  tried  in  the  furnace  of  the  Chica 
go  fire,  and  some  of  them  annealed  in  the  opera 
tions  of  the  Relief  Society.  They  established  their 
bureau  in  an  upper  parlor  of  the  Burnet  House, 
looking  out  upon  the  bowlders  of  Third  street 
From  this  center  the  busy  workers  in  the  Davis 
interest  laid  their  pipes  and  extended  their  wires  to 
other  delegations  supposed  to  be  at  all  infected  with 
the  Davis  interest.  Here  the  solemn  old  pump, 
Long  John  Wentworth,  went  and  came,  and  swayed 
to  and  fro,  like  a  double-jointed  lighthouse. 

Here  the  vapid  Fairbanks  displayed  his  elegant 
shape  and  aired  his  attenuated  rhetoric.  Here  a 
representative  of  the  Chicago  Times,  labored  in 
the  cause  of  the  Associate  Justice  with  earnest 
ness  and  not  a  little  asperity.  The  bald  poll  of 
Wirt  Dexter,  like  an  iceberg  just  floated  from 
northern  seas,  flashed  in  the  southern  sunlight. 
Leonard  Swett,  the  organizer  of  defeat,  was  seen 
flitting  uneasily  about,  as  he  injected  a  subtle  word 
here;  a  pertinent  suggestion  there,  into  the  daily 
informal  deliberations  of  the  junto.  The  adher 
ents  of  Davis  continued  strong  in  their  confidence 
of  his  nomination  until  the  very  eve  of  the  con 
vention. 


1 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  339 

JOURNALISTS    AND    POLITICIANS. 

On  the  Saturday  preceding  the  first  of  May 
everything  was  in  a  state  of  bewildering  uncer 
tainty.  The  Davis  delegates  were  sincerely  con 
fident  of  success,  and  the  Brown  delegates  professed 
equal  serenity  of  faith.  But  the  ordinary  observer 
was  simply  bewildered  by  the  scarcity  of  facts,  and 
the  abundance  of  possibilities.  Only  fragments  of 
delegations  about  whom  hung  shreds  of  politicians 
were  in  the  city.  There  were  rumors  of  the  ex 
pected  presence  of  many  persons  of  distinction. 

It  was  expected  that  the  inherent  modesty  of 
Democratic  politicians  would  keep  them  at  a  dis 
tance  from  a  meeting  in  which  they  had  not  been 
invited  to  participate.  Force  of  habit  was  too 
strong  with  a  few.  Belmont,  eager  in  the  support 
of  Adams,  like  a  tethered  horse,  moved  about  Cin 
cinnati  as  a  pivot.  One  day  report  had  him  snip- 
shooting  in  southern  Indiana,  and  the  next  trans 
ferred  him  to  the  Blue  Grass  region  of  Kentucky, 
where  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  purchase  of 
blooded  horses  with  such  a  degree  of  absorption, 
that  it  seemed  impossible  he  would  ever  condescend 
to  politics  again.  About  the  time  of  the  assembling 
of  the  convention,  he  went  back  to  New  York,  and 
ceased  temporarily  to  be  a  theme  of  newspaper 
comment. 

Anna  Dickinson  was  said  to  have  engaged  rooms 
at  the  Carlyle  House,  but  she  failed  to  make  an 
appearance.  Horace  White,  of  the  Chicago 


34O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

Tribune,  reached  Cincinnati  on  Saturday  morning, 
making  a  strong  accession  to  the  Free  Trade 
element  already  present.  The  Saturday  night  trains 
added  large  numbers  to  the  floating  population,  and 
on  Sunday  things  began  to  gather  shape;  the  chaos 
commenced  slowly  rounding  into  form. 

THE    TARIFF    QUESTION. 

The  leaders  in  the  liberal  movement  had  from 
the  first  recognized  that  the  real  rock  in  their  path, 
on  which  their  bark  was  in  danger  of  shipwreck, 
was  the  tariff  question.  They  therefore  approached 
it  warily,  and  with  an  attempt  at  skillful  pilotage. 
The  free-trade  men,  being  first  upon  the  ground  in 
force,  had  the  preliminary  shaping  of  the  business. 
The  first  meeting  to  consider  the  question  was  held 
in  the  ladies'  parlor  of  the  St.  James  Hotel,  at 
eleven  o'clock  on  Sunday  morn  ing,' April  28th.  Not 
an  avowed  Protectionist  was  in  the  room.  There 
were  present  Mahlon  Sands,  Henry  D.  Lloyd  and 
Illinois  Prime,  all  paid  employees  of  the  National 
Free  Trade  League,  and  all  pledged,  of  course,  to 
every  possible  effort  to  get  the  free  trade  question 
in  some  desirable  shape  into  the  platform.  Atkin 
son  and  Bird,  of  Boston,  were  there,  quiet,  well-bred, 
earnest.  Judge  Hoadley  formed  a  segment  of  the 
circle  into  which  the  party  was  formed — restless  in 
manner,  and  looked  at  askance  by  the  others,  as  a 
sort  of  political  bull  in  the  liberal  china  shop. 

The  bland  face  of  David  A.  Wells,  almost  as 
placid  and  moonlike  as  the  visage  of  his  great  op- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  341 

ponent  in  the  matter  of  revenue  from  customs, 
Horace  Greeley,  illumined  the  ring,  and  near  it 
the  pale,  distressed  features  of  j  Horace  White 
attracted  general  attention.  Carl  Schurz,  who  had 
arrived  during  the  previous  night,  was  in  the  little 
assembly,  quietly  observant,  and  plainly  studying 
how  not  to  say  it.  General  J.  D.  Cox  occupied  the 
chair.  There  were  present,  besides,  at  the  services 
of  this  holy  Sabbath  occasion,  Mr.  Dorsheimer,  of 
Buffalo,  General  Brinkerhoff,  General  Burnett  and 
Colonel  George  Ward  Nichols,  of  Cincinnati,  and 
one  or  two  others  even  less  noteworthy  than  these 
last. 

The  discussion  was  informal,  and  only  indicated 
the  preferences  and  predilections  of  each  in  regard 
to  the  points  in  debate.  Judge  Hoadley  was  pro 
nounced  in  favor  of  a  vigorous  free  trade  plank  in 
the  platform,  and  had  drafted  a  resolution  looking 
to  that  end,  which  he  presented  to  the  meeting. 
He  was  supported  by  General  Burnett.  Horace 
White  preferred  that  free  trade  should  not  be  made 
needlessly  prominent  in  the  platform  ;  free  trade 
was  only  a  matter  of  degree  ;  as  for  absolute  free 
trade,  it  was  not  a  question  of  the  present,  but  an 
issue  of  the  future. 

Schurz  favored  some  negative  declaration  in  re 
gard  to  it.  The  sentiments  of  the  meeting  were 
divided,  and  those  in  attendance  separated  with 
expressed  wishes  for  conciliation  and  harmony,  to 
meet  again  the  next  day  at  the  same  hour  and  in 
the  same  apartment.  But  the  apple  of  discord  had 


342  THE   STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

been  thrown  among  them.  High  Protectionists 
appeared  at  subsequent  meetings,  and  the  question 
came  near  proving  what  the  best  advised  feared, 
the  cause  of  actual  disruption  and  fatal  disaster. 

MATTERS    CRYSTALLIZING. 

On  Monday  the  town  was  filled  with  delegates, 
their  satellites  and  manipulators.  Diligent  re 
porters  and  correspondents  began  with  some  suc 
cess  the  process  of  winnowing  the  grains  of  fact 
from  the  chaff  of  imagination  and  falsehood.  Mis 
souri  was  still  true  to  Brown,  and  Grosvenor 
claimed  that  he  had  the  promise  of  votes  in  other 
delegations.  The  Davis  men  had  not  yet  begun  to 
have  the  premonitions  of  defeat.  The  friends  of 
Trumbull  had  secured  rooms  at  the  Burnett  House, 
opening  from  one  of  the  main  corridors  convenient 
for  the  button-holing  and  entanglement  of  unwary 
and  plastic  delegates.  They  had  assurances  of 
help  from  various  quarters,  and  were  not  without 
reasonable  hope  of  advantage.  The  son  of  the 
Senator  from  Illinois  was  ubiquitous,  and  sanguine, 
claiming  that  he  had  had  repeated  assurances  of 
cordial  support  from  Schurz. 

The  friends  of  Greeley,  warmly  sympathetic,  but 
scarcely  hoping  to  win,  had  begun  to  enumerate 
their  adherents  upon  their  fingers.  Cox  was  talked 
of  as  a  compromise  candidate  in  case  of  failure  to 
agree  upon  those  whose  chances  seemed  best  at  the 
outset.  A  few  persons,  the  chief  fuglemen  being 
Alexander  Long,  a  Democratic  lawyer  of  Cincin- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  343 

nati,  with  a  record  of  treachery  in  war  times,  at 
tempted  to  evoke  the  ghost  of  Chase  from  the 
political  grave  to  which  that  gentleman  had  been 
long  consigned. 

Wm.  S.  Groesbeck,  of  Cincinnati,  a  polished  orator 
and  finished  gentleman  of  the  antique  school,  was 
faintly  hinted  as  one  who  would  becomingly  fill  the 
office  of  president.  Mr.  Groesbeck  put  the  crown 
from  him  with  quite  as  much  grace,  and  with  al 
most  as  much  sincerity  as  did  Caesar  in  the  Capitol, 
but  he  was  seen  talking  often  to  delegates  in  his 
stately  fashion,  and  was  presumed  to  have  at  least 
a  fleeting  interest  in  what  was  transpiring.  Of  all 
the  candidates  named,  it  was  understood  that  none 
of  them  was  willing  to  take  the  second  place  on  the 
ticket  except  Brown,  and  perhaps  Greeley.  Any 
two  of  the  names  would  have  made  it  strong,  but 
their  unyielding  ambition  had  made  such  a  colloca 
tion  impossible. 

LOCAL  STRENGTH  OF  ADAMS. 

The  local  influence  was  all  thrown  in  favor  of 
Adams.  Scarcely  any  other  name  was  mentioned 
by  the  Cincinnati  press  in  connection  with  the 
Presidential  nomination.  The  Commercial  sup 
ported  him  with  energy,  returning  to  the  charge 
with  renewed  vigor  each  morning,  and  writing  up 
his  life  laborious-ly.  The  Enquirer  pursued  a  simi 
lar  course,  but  its  style  and  manner  were  less  pro 
nounced.  Adams  was  a  favorite  of  the  German  news 
papers,  which  declared  their  preferences  mildly. 


344  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

The  publication  of  his  letter  to  D.  A.  Wells,  pro 
duced  a  momentary  shock,  but  did  not  seem,  after 
the  first  day  of  its  appearance,  to  affect  its  chances. 
The  name  of  Greeley  was  received  with  mildly-sup 
pressed  laughter  whenever  mentioned.  Outside 
of  his  own  friendly  circle  Brown  was  not  thought  to 
have  a  shadow  of  a  chance.  The  Davis  and  Ad 
ams  men  sneered  at  the  chances  of  Trumbull. 

On  Monday,  nearly  all  the  delegates  were  in  the 
city,  comfortably  disposed  of  and  conferring  with 
one  another  in  regard  to  the  course  that  should  be 
pursued.  Fenton  was  on  hand,  secretly  working 
for  Greeley.  His  headquarters  were  in  a  room  at 
the  Burnet  House,  but  he  boarded  with  his  private 
secretary  at  a  house  in  Broadway.  He  spent  his 
time  in  quietly  but  vigorously  counteracting  the 
effects  of  the  aggressive  Western  delegates  in  the 
direction  of  tariff  reform.  George  W.  Julian  was 
prominent  among  the  Indiana  delegates,  but  was 
not  understood  to  be  working  in  the  interest  of 
any  particular  candidate.  The  difference  in  the 
Illinois  men  became  an  absolute  rupture.  The 
money  spent  in  the  interest  of  Davis,  and  the 
shameless  effort  to  pack  the  convention  in  his  favor 
rent  the  delegation  with  dissention  and  caused 
great  scandal  outside  of  it.  It  was  the  only  case 
in  which  money  was  known  to  have  been  openly 
used  to  further  the  cause  of  a  candidate.  The  re 
gion  of  Bloomington  was  said  to  be  almost  depop 
ulated  of  its  inhabitants,  who  had  come  to  Cincin 
nati  to  shout  for  Davis.  At  a  meeting  of  the  del- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  345 

egation  from  this  State,  on  Tuesday,  a  compromise 
was  effected  by  which  Davis  should  have  in  the 
convention  twenty-one  of  the  delegates,  Trumbull, 
ten  and  a  half,  and  Palmer  ten  and  a  half.  As  Pal 
mer's  chances  for  the  nomination  had  entirely  evan 
esced,  this  gave  half  of  the  voting  delegates  to 
Trumbull,  and  was  considered  a  great  concession 
on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  Davis,  who  were  suf 
ficiently  numerous  to  have  everything  in  accord 
with  their  own  wishes. 

THE    SITUATION    ON    TUESDAY. 

The  Illinois  delegation  was  not  peculiar  as  re 
garded  internal  discord.  The  quiet  manipulation 
of  Greeley  by  his  New  York  friends  was  distasteful 
to  the  Free  Trade  portion  of  the  delegates  from 
the  State.  The  animus  of  the  former  was  very  de 
cided,  and  finally  ended  in  excluding  these  oppo 
nents  entirely  from  the  convention.  This  was  the 
situation  on  the  eve  of  Wednesday,  the  day  of  the 
convention : 

Adams  strong  in  Ohio,  Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  Kentucky,  Michigan,  Tennessee,  Wisconsin, 
Maine,  and  having  portions  of  their  delegations, 
Davis  having  half  of  Illinois,  a  part  of  Indiana, 
North  and  South  Carolina,  and  a  few  other  votes, 
Trumbull  having  half  of  Illinois,  nearly  all  of  In 
diana,  Kansas,  and  some  scattering  ballots,  Greeley, 
New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  unde 
fined  strength  among  his  southern  delegates,  Brown 
had  his  own  State,  with  Georgia  and  Arkansas,  and 


346  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Curtin,  Pennsylvania,  with  rumors  of  supporting 
Greeley  and  Davis  as  its  second  choice.  The  tariff 
question  was  undecided,  but  was  understood  to  be 
still  in  abeyance,  with  a  growing  preponderance  of 
Eastern  influence  against  the  out-and-out  revenue 
reformers.  The  power  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl 
vania  had  already  made  itself  profoundly  felt. 
None  of  the  prospective  candidates  were  present, 
delicacy  forbidding. 

PERSONAL    REBUFFS. 

A  little  incident  which  occurred  to  Richard  Smith, 
editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  caused  consider 
able  gossip.  That  gentleman  applied  for  admission 
to  one  of  the  meetings  which  daily  assembled  at 
the  St.  James  to  crystallize  opinion  on  the  tariff, 
and  other  important  questions,  but  was  refused. 
He  sent  back  word  by  the  messenger  that  in  the 
course  of  a  long  political  experience  he  had  never 
been  excluded  from  a  reputed  Republican  meeting 
before,  and  he  advised  the  gentlemen  in  council  to 
question  their  own  hearts  and  see  if  there  was  not 
something  wrong. 

FIRST    DAY    OF    THE    CONVENTION. 

The  spacious  Industrial  Hall — the  place  ap 
pointed  as  the  session  of  the  Convention — was 
moderately  filled  on  the  first  day  of  the  convention. 
The  scene  was  one  of  considerable  animation.  The 
delegates  occupied  about  half  the  floor,  and  were 
separated  from  vulgar  outsiders  by  a  rude  railing. 


THE   CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  347 

A  large  concourse  of  spectators,  among  whom  there 
were  a  few  ladies,  was  in  the  galleries. 

The  hall  was  tastefully  docorated,  and  to  add  to 
the  general  enjoyment  of  the  occasion,  a  brass  band 
was  stationed  behind  the  platform,  screened  from 
public  view  by  the  wealth  of  flowers  and  greenery, 
and  the  voluptuous  swell  of  the  melodies  of  many 
lands  floated  from  their  retreat  during  the  progress 
of  liberal  business.  A  thick  coating  of  sawdust 
and  tan-bark  upon  the  floor,  laid  to  deaden  the  ora 
torical  reverberations,  gave  to  the  place  the  air  of 
a  decorous  beer-garden. 

On  all  sides  were  to  be  noted  the  most  studied 
affectation  of  courtesy.  All  ill-feeling,  seemed  for 
the  time  allayed,  and  all  heart-burning  temporarily 
smothered. 

TEMPORARY    ORGANIZATION. 

It  was  a  few  minutes  past  twelve  o'clock  when 
W.  M.  Grosvenor,  Chairman  of  the  Liberal  Re 
publican  Executive  Committee  of  Missouri,  arose 
and  called  the  convention  to  order.  The  order  de 
manded  did  not  become  intensified  into  silence, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  hear  his  shrill  tones  in  remote 
parts  of  the  hall.  The  applause  which  his  appear 
ance  elicited  was  not  enthusiastic.  The  speaker 
made  a  brief,  vigorous  appeal  for  harmony,  of  which, 
acquainted  with  the  hidden  mainsprings  of  the 
movement,  and  the  hidden  elements  of  discord,  he 
knew  well  the  need. 

Having   nominated    Hon.  Stanley  Matthews  as 


348  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

temporary  chairman  of  the  convention,  the  owner 
of  the  primal  voice  in  its  deliberations  withdrew 
his  tangled  black  locks  and  his  oriental  visage 
from  the  view  of  the  audience. 

OPENING    SPEECH    OF    STANLEY    MATTHEWS. 

The  Hon.  Stanley  Matthews,  a  wayward  son  of 
Southern  Ohio,  and  constitutionally  unfitted  for 
party  leadership,  was  well  received  and  heartily 
elected  to  fill  the  position  for  which  he  was  named. 
He  made  a  fifteen  minute  speech,  in  which  he  pro 
ceeded,  first,  to  deprecate  the  possibility  of  his  being 
looked  on  as  a  prophet,  and  secondly,  to  apologise 
for  ever  having  affiliated  with  the  Republican 
party,  in  which  connection  he  said  "  it  was  Sir  Wal 
ter  Raleigh,  I  believe,  who,  in  reference  to  the  pride 
of  ancestry,  said  that  those  who  boast  the  most  of 
their  progenitors  were  like  a  plant  which  he  had 
discovered  in  America — the  best  part  was  under 
ground."  [Applause.] 

The  remainder  of  the  speech  was  without  pith 
or  point,  dealing  only  in  shabby  generalities,  and 
resembling  the  aimless  political  experience  of  its 
author. 

The  speech  finished  and  decorously  applauded, 
Mr.  Matthews  addressed  himself  industriously  to 
the  duties  of  the  gavel.  Colonel  Grosvenor  an 
nounced  the  following  temporary  Secretaries :  Geo. 
Ward  Nichols,  of  Ohio ;  George  W.  Palmer,  of 
New  York;  and  Joseph  Pulitzer,  of  Missouri. 

The  audience  seemed   restless,  much  frayed  at 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  349 

the  edges,  and  plainly  anxious  to  emerge  once  more 
into  the  open  air. 

THE    CONVENTION    AFRAID    OF    ITSELF. 

The  proceedings  thus  far  were  too  tame  to  win 
prolonged  attention.  The  kernel  of  the  nut  was 
not  yet  reached.  The  convention  was  evidently 
afraid  of  itself,  and  desirous  of  keeping  all  inflam 
mable  matter  from  the  explosives  which  every  one 
knew  to  be  lying  just  beneath  the  surface.  Time, 
time  was  what  was  wanted  to  work  up  the  latent 
strength  of  candidates,  to  fix  upon  a  suitable  per 
son  for  permanent  president,  and  most  important 
of  all,  to  mature  a  platform.  The  irrepressible 
Grosvenor  offered  a  resolution  that  when  the  con 
vention  adjourn  it  adjourn  to  meet  at  10  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  and  that  in  the  meantime  the 
several  State  delegations  elect  from  among  their 
number  delegates  double  the  number  of  votes  to  be 
cast  by  their  respective  States  in  the  Electoral  Col 
lege;  and  that  when  this  convention  meet  again  the 
names  of  the  delegates  so  selected  be  reported  to 
the  temporary  Chairman.  The  resolution  was 
adopted.  Carl  Schurz  was  loudly  called  for,  but 
speech-making  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  was 
not  in  his  thoughts.  He  came  to  the  front,  said  a 
few  words,  and  vanished  from  the  gaze  of  his 
auditory. 

Without  taking  a  vote  upon  the  question,  the 
chairman  declared  the  convention  adjourned  until 
ten  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning. 


350  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

RENEWAL    OF    CAUCASSING. 

The  Burnett  House  was  the  scene  of  the  great 
est  animation.  Its  extensive  corridors  and  hand 
some  parlors  were  filled  with  excited  crowds  of  in 
dividuals,  surging  out  and  in,  and  flowing  hither 
and  thither  in  torrents  all  the  long  spring  after 
noon,  and  far  on  into  the  noisy  night,  A  few  of 
the  States  had  held  final  caucuses  and  had  nothing 
more  to  say.  But  most  of  the  delegations  re-as 
sembled  to  settle  some  vexed  point  hitherto  left 
undecided. 

In  the  Ohio  delegation  an  informal  ballot  was 
taken,  which  resulted  :  Adams,  43  ;  Greeley,  i.  In 
diana  instructed  her  delegation  to  cast  their  first 
Vice-Presidential  ballot  for  Julian.  The  Missouri 
delegates  still  adhered  to  the  fortunes  of  Gratz 
Brown  against  hope.  Kentucky,  whose  preference 
was  for  Adams,  decided  to  urge  Cassius  M.  Clay 
for  permanent  President  of  the  convention.  Mich 
igan  declared  her  preference  for  Adams.  Hon.  J. 
B.  Grinnell,  Chairman  of  the  Iowa  Delegation,  had 
long  been  anxious  for  the  nomination  of  Greeley, 
and  very  conspicuous  during  the  Chappaqua  phi 
losopher's  progress  through  the  rural  districts  of 
the  West,  in  the  summer  of  1871. 

A  majority  of  the  delegates,  however,  at  their 
last  caucus,  decided  to  vote  first  for  Trumbull,  re 
verting  to  Greeley  as  their  second  choice.  Minne 
sota  decided  to  vote  for  Trumbull.  Warmoth 
told  the  reporters  that  Louisiana  was  for  Greeley. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  351 

The  smaller  delegations  reaffirmed  their  decisions 
already  given  as  the  result  of  Wednesday's  caucus- 


TROUBLE  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  DELEGATION. 

The  meeting  of  the  New  York  delegation  was 
especially  interesting.  Pursuant  to  a  call  of  the 
Chairman,  it  met  at  headquarters  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  The  free-traders  had  some  time  ere 
this  been  silenced.  General  Cochrane  offered  the 
following : 

"Resolved,  That  we,  delegates  of  New  York,  cast  the  entire  vote  for  Hon. 
Horace  Greeley  for  President,  and  until  such  times  as  we,  members  of  the 
delegation,  prefer  to  the  Chairman  a  request  that  we  delegates  retire  for  con 
sultation,  after  which  the  other  votes  of  the  delegates  shall  be  cast  for  Hor 
ace  Greeley,  according  to  the  direction  of  the  majority." 

In  the  discussion  that  folio  wed,  the  great  strength 
of  Greeley  in  the  delegation  was  apparent.  Mr. 
Dorsheimer  advised  that  the  delegation  vote  as  a 
unit  for  him.  Mahlon  Sands  declined  to  go  into 
convention  with  a  padlock,  that  inconvenient  sym 
bol  of  tyranny,  upon  his  lips.  Mr.  Goodrich,  of 
King's  county,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  will 
of  the  majority  should  decide  the  vote  of  the  en 
tire  delegation.  General  Cochrane,  with  sonorous 
voice,  and  in  a  decided  manner,  declared  that  Gree 
ley  and  the  delegation  were  identical. 

Judge  Henry  R.  Selden,  of  Rochester,  unused 
to  the  turmoil  of  politics,  and  the  devious  ways  of 
the  caucus,  dissented  from  the  views  of  the  major 
ity.  He  thought  that  the  minority  should  not  be 
tabooed,  although  he  was  himself  willing  to  abide 

21 


352  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  wish  of  the  majority.  Mr.  Henry  D.  Lloyd, 
the  young  man  who,  with  Mahlon  Sands,  represent 
ed  the  Free  Trade  League,  spoke  violently  against 
Greeley,  whom  he  deemed  unfit  to  occupy  the 
Presidential  chair.  He  objected  further  to  the 
majority  rule,  but  was  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his 
eloquence  by  the  strategic  move  of  some  rigid  par 
liamentarian. 

Another  caucus  was  held  at  early  candle-light, 
and  another  later  in  the  night.  At  the  first,  Gen 
eral  Cochrane  presided;  Judge  Selden  at  the  sec 
ond.  At  the  first  the  names  of  the  voting  dele 
gates  were  presented  by  a  committee  and  endorsed 
duly.  It  was  ascertained  through  a  member  of  the 
delegation  that  the  Greeley  men  numbered  about 
one  hundred  and  forty,  and  the  Adams  men  about 
forty. 

The  delegates  were  nominated  by  a  committee 
(composed  of  Greeley  men)  appointed  by  the 
Chair  (a  Greeley  man),  under  instructions  that  in 
those  Congressional  Districts  from  which  there 
were  representatives  present  the  committee  should 
appoint  the  delegates  according  to  the  instructions 
of  such  representatives.  When  the  committee 
reported,  the  name  of  Mr.  Lloyd,  who  had  been 
chosen  by  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  members 
from  his  district,  appeared  among  the  number  of 
delegates.  Mr.  Sinclair  Toucey,  of  New  York,  then 
arose  and  inquired  of  Mr.  Lloyd  whether  he  would 
vote  for  Mr.  Greeley.  Mr.  Theodore  Tilton  then 
arose  and  said  if  he  were  asked  such  a  question 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  353 

he  would  remain  silent  till  doomsday.  Some  fur 
ther  discussion  then  took  place,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  not 
answering,  Mr.  Toucey  moved  that  Mr.  Lloyd's 
name  be  stricken  from  the  list  of  delegates.  The 
question  was  put,  and,  on  a  division  of  the  house, 
was  lost. 

A  flank  movement  on  John  N.  Pomeroy,  another 
delegate  who  refused  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  white- 
coated  Baal,  was  more  successful.  His  name  was 
expunged  from  the  record. 

VARIOUS    PERSONAL  MATTERS. 

On  Thursday  it  transpired  that  Fenton  had  left 
silently  but  suddenly  for  New  York  on  the  previ 
ous  day.  Exactly  what  he  had  been  doing,  except 
that  he  had  been  working  for  Greeley  under  cover, 
like  a  mole,  precisely  why  he  had  left  the  city,  was  not 
plain  to  the  common  understanding.  On  Thursday 
Matteson,  of  the  Chicago  Times,  received  a  letter 
from  Wilbur  F.  Storey,  in  which  it  was  declared 
that  the  Democracy  of  Illinois  would  support  no 
other  candidate  but  Davis.  The  German  Demo 
crats  seemed  more  pronounced  for  Adams  as  the 
time  of  the  nomination  approached. 

In  attendance  upon  the  convention,  and  hoping 
to  be  recognized  in  its  deliberations,  were  Miss 
Susan  B.  Anthony,  conspicuous  for  her  gold  spec 
tacles  and  her  faded  loveliness,  and  Mrs.  Laura  De 
Force  Gordon,  of  San  Joaquin,  California.  Ahum, 
a  bustle,  and  a  rush,  occurred  wherever  they  went. 
Mrs.  Gordon  was  a  champion  of  her  own  sex  on 


354  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

general  principles,  a  declared  Internationalist,  and 
had  been  a  candidate  for  the  State  Senate  in  Cali 
fornia,  for  which  office  she  had  received  two  hundred 
votes.  The  two  ladies,  being  in  the  parlors  of  the 
Burnett  House  on  the  evening  of  May  2d,  were 
invited  to  address  the  eager  crowd  that  pressed 
around  them.  Before,  however,  they  had  had  time 
to  clinch  a  single  point  with  their  feminine  logic, 
their  auditory  was  ruthlessly  swept  from  the  ele 
gant  drawing-room  by  a  squad  of  police,  whose  aid 
for  the  purpose  had  been  invoked  by  the  pro 
prietors. 

The  close  of  the  first  day  of  the  convention's  ses 
sions  showed  no  particular  change  in  respect  of 
candidates  to  the  casual  observer.  The  lines  of  the 
various  factions  were,  however,  more  tightly  drawn, 
and  personal  bitternesses  were  greatly  intensified. 
Partisans  were  preparing,  in  case  of  disaster,  to 
throw  the  responsibility  upon  those  who  refused  to 
support  their  candidate.  During  all  the  day,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  night,  discussion,  not  entirely  free 
from  bitterness,  was  going  on  over  certain  portions 
of  the  platform. 

SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    CONVENTION. 

The  weather  was  pleasant  on  the  second  day  of 
the  convention.  The  committee  of  arrangements 
having  decided  to  admit  to  the  floor,  outside  the 
hall,  persons  of  all  classes  without  tickets,  the 
standing  room  in  the  lower  part  of  the  building  was 
all  occupied.  The  galleries  were  well  filled,  ladies 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  355 

handsomely  dressed,  and  armed  with  lorgnettes, 
forming  a  prominent  feature.  Not  less  than  eight 
thousand  people  were  present.  Before  the  as 
sembly  was  called  to  order,  Theodore  Tilton,  bow 
ing  gracefully,  his  head  covered  with  ambrosial 
curls,  escorted  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Gordon  to 
the  platform.  The  appearance  of  the  trio  in  con 
junction  called  forth  applause  mingled  with  hisses. 

Persons  who  had  leisure  looked  around  for  people 
of  note.  There  were  many  such  to  be  seen  here 
and  there  among  the  delegates.  Warmoth,  of 
Louisiana,  the  Apollo  of  carpet-baggers,  moved 
easily  about  among  the  host,  tall,  handsome,  non 
chalant,  dignified.  General  Cochrane,  of  New 
York,  was  conspicuous  in  his  place  in  the  New 
York  delegation,  of  powerful  physique,  animated 
look,  bronzed  complexion,  and  voice  that  enforced 
attention  whenever  heard  in  the  deliberations.  All 
were  anxious  to  see  Alexander  McClure,  of  Penn 
sylvania.  His  massive  head  and  expansive  brow 
indicate  and  his  blase  air  showed  that  he  could  give 
the  vote  that  might  decide  the  welfare  of  the  nation 
with  as  much  coolness  as  he  ever  cast  a  die.  Mrs. 
Gordon,  dressed  in  gray,  with  a  straw  hat,  gay  with 
superflous  ribbons,  that  fluttered  like  defiant  pen 
nons  when  she  walked,  took  occasion  to  be  much 
seen  on  the  platform  and  in  the  aisles.  If  a  bold 
usher  ventured  an  inquiring  look  she  congealed  him 
with  a  stern  stare,  and  an  imperious  nod. 

Judge  Matthews  called  the  convention  to  order 
at  ten  o'clock.  The  immense  mass  of  surging  hu 
manity  settled  itself  into  comparative  quiet. 


356  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

General  McNeil,  of  Missouri,  moved  that  a  com 
mittee  on  permanent  organization  consisting  of  one 
from  each  State,  be  appointed,  each  delegation  to 
designate  its  member. 

A  motion  to  amend,  so  as  to  allow  delegates 
from  the  Territories  to  be  represented  on  the  com 
mittee,  caused  an  excited  discussion,  in  which  Gen 
eral  Cochrane  joined  ponderously,  and  the  crepit- 
ant  tone  sand  incisive  manner  of  Judge  Hoadley, 
grated  harshly  on  the  fine  sensibilities  of  the  con 
vention. 

Mr.  Samuel  E.  Brown,  of  Colorado,  ended  the 
brief  debates  with  some  pertinent  words,  affirming 
the  rights  of  Territories,  and  the  amendment  was 
adopted. 

The  appointment  of  the  other  essential  commit 
tees  was  moved  and  carried. 

MRS.    GORDON. 

The  Chair  produced  by  some  unaccountable  pro 
cess  of  legerdemain,  from  some  unperceived  por 
tion  of  his  anatomy,  a  sheet  of  commercial  note 
paper,  delicately  inscribed,  and  read  as  follows : 

To  the  Chairman  of  th'e  National  Liberal  Republican  Convention: 

DEAR  SIR — The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  submit  for  your  considera 
tion  the  following  claims  that  entitle  her  to  a  seat  in  your  convention.  She 
is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  San  Joaquin  County,  Cal 
ifornia,  and  fully  sympathizes  with  the  objects  and  aims  of  this  convention. 
Heretofore  she  has  acted  with  the  Republican  party,  but  believing,  in  com 
mon  with  the  members  of  this  convention,  that  there  are  grave  errors  to  cor 
rect,  and  many  reforms  needed  in  said  party,  she  is  desirous  of  uniting  her 
action  with  them  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  so  desirable  an  object. 

She  represents  further,  that,  according  to  opportionment,  California  is  en 
titled  to  ten  delegates  and  ten  votes  in  the  convention  ;  but,  besides  herself 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  359 

there  are  only  four  citizens  of  that  State  present  to  represent  the  people 
thereof ;  and,  being  desirous  that  California  shall  be  as  fully  represented  as 
practicable,  she  applied  to  one  or  two  of  the  members  present  at  this  conven 
tion  from  that  State  for  recognition  as  a  delegate  with  themselves  ;  and,  find 
ing  them  indifferent  to  her  claim,  or  doubtful  of  the  convention  accepting  the 
female  citizens  as  members,  she  therefore  appeals  directly  to  the  honorable 
officers  and  members  of  the  National  Republican  Convention,  and  respectfully 
asks  to  be  admitted  as  a  member  and  delegate  to  the  convention  from  the 
State  of  California,  and  entitled,  under  the  rules  thereof,  to  all  rights  and 
privileges  as  such. 

With  assurances  of  the  most  earnest  sympathy  in  the  purposes  of  the  con 
vention, 

I  am  most  respectfully  yours, 

LAURA  DE  FORCE  GORDON,  of  California.     . 

Amid  applause  and  acclamation,  the  delicate 
document  was  referred,  to  the  Committee  on  Cre 
dentials. 

THE   COMMITTEES. 

The  Committees  on  Credentials  and  Permanent 
Organization,  which  were  then  announced,  con 
tained  no  men  known  outside  of  their  states,  un 
less  it  were  R.  P.  Spaulding,  of  Ohio. 

The  gentlemen  whose  names  follow  constituted 
the  Committee  on  Platform  : 

Alabama,  Samuel  F.  Rice  ;  Arkansas,  Edwin  Bancroft ;  California,  Wm. 
H.  Russell ;  Connecticut,  D.  A.  Wells  ;  Florida,  James  B.  C.  Drew  ;  Georgia, 
James  Johnson  ;  Illinois,  Horace  White  ;  Indiana,  Thomas  C.  Whitesides  ; 
Iowa,  J.  B.  Grinnell ;  Kansas,  E.  G.  Ross  ;  Kentucky,  John  Mason  Brown  ; 
Louisiana,  J.  M.  Dirheimer  ;  Maine,  J.  S.  Lyford  ;  Maryland,  A.  W.  Brad 
ford  ;  Massachusetts,  F.  W.  Bird  ;  Michigan,  J.  P.  Thompson  ;  Minnesota, 
Theodore  Halscher  ;  Mississippi,  W.  I.  Yesbitt  ;  Missouri,  Wm.  J.  Grosve- 
nor  ;  Nebraska,  W.  P.  Roberts  ;  Nevada,  George  D.  Lyon  ;  New  Hampshire, 
Ed.  D.  Baker ;  New  Jersey,  James  M.  Scoville  ;  New  York,  Theodore  Til- 
ton  ;  North  Carolina,  Louis  Haines ;  Ohio,  George  Hoadley  ;  Oregon,  J.  W. 
Johnson  ;  Pennsylvania,  Hon.  Wm.  M.  Ball ;  Rhode  Island,  Ed.  Harris  ; 
South  Carolina,  S.  A.  Pearce,  Jr. ;  Tennessee,  G.  P.  Thruston  ;  Texas,  A.  J. 
Hamilton  ;  Vermont,  Chas.  Clemens  ;  Virginia,  W.  W.  Wood  ;  West  Vir 
ginia,  W.  P.  Hubbard  ;  Wisconsin,  G.  M.  Woodward  ;  District  of  Columbia, 


360  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

John  D.  Defrees  ;  Colorado,  S.  E.  Brown  ;  Dakota,  George  A.  Pryor  ;  Mon 
tana,  F.  C.  Evarts  ;  Utah,  A.  W.  Galvia. 

THE    NEW    YORK    ROW. 

Judge  Selden,  of  New  York,  obtained  the  floor, 
and  presented  a  paper  which  he  said  was  a  protest 
of  his  friends  of  the  minority  of  the  delegation 
from  his  State  against  the  action  of  the  majority, 
and  which  he  desired  to  be  presented  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  Credentials.  The  paper  recited  the  facts 
already  herein  given,  and  stated  besides,  that— 

"  In  the  First  Congressional  District,  Edward  H.  Seaman  was  nominated 
by  the  delegation  present  from  that  district  as  one  of  the  representative  dele 
gates,  and  after  it  was  ascertained  that  Mr.  Seaman  was  opposed  to  the 
nomination  of  Horace  Greeley,  another  person,  known  as  "  Rocky"  Moore, 
was  substituted  for  him  by  the  committee."  Also  "  that  the  delegates  pres 
ent  from  the  Eighth  Congressional  District  met,  as  directed  by  the  Chair, 
and  nominated,  by  a  vote  of  eight  out  of  thirteen  delegates,  then  and  there 
present,  James  L.  Bishop  and  Thomas  Duffy  as  their  representative  dele 
gates,  and  that  this  choice  was  duly  reported  to  and  disregarded  by  said  com 
mittee,  and  by  the  whole  number  of  members  in  its  election,  and  that  the 
representative  delegates  reported  by  the  committee  and  elected  by  the  whole 
body  from  this  district  were  never  nominated  at  any  meeting  of  the  resident 
delegates  thereof,  as  required  by  the  instructions  of  the  convention  and  by  a 
resolution  of  our  members." 

It  was  further  stated  "  that  in  the  Twenty-seventh  Congressional  District, 
the  one  delegate  present  recommended  himself  and  Theodore  Bacon  as  re 
presentative  delegates  ;  that  upon  ascertaining  that  Mr.  Bacon  was  opposed 
to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Greeley,  the  committee  substituted,  without  con 
sultation  with  any  resident  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Congressional  District,  the 
name  of  a  person  known  to  concur  in  the  views  of  the  majority  ;  and  still 
further,  that  no  persons  were  present  as  members  of  the  convention  front  several 
congressional  districts,  and  that,  in  the  election  of  representative  delegates  to  Jill 
these  vacancies,  all  persons  undo  stood  to  be  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Greeley  were  studiotisly  ignored? 

The  inconvenient  document  was  duly  referred  as 
requested  by  the  inexperienced  politician  who  pre 
sented  it.  It  was  found  to  have  been  signed  by 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  361 

twenty-six  gentlemen,  including  nearly  all   the  re 
spectable  New  Yorkers  present* 

THE  CONVENTION  TURBULENT. 

A  scene  of  disorder  ensued,  which  exceeded  the 
limited  abilities  of  the  chairman. 

The  committees,  having  been  appointed,  needed 
time  to  prepare  their  reports,  and  there  was  really 
no  business  before  the  convention.  Various  trivial 
motions  were  made,  but  few  of  which  were  enter 
tained  ;  and  finally,  on  motion  of  McClure,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  a  recess  was  finally  taken  until  three 
o'clock,  there  being  no  other  way  of  disposing  of 
the  tumultuous  assemblage. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION SECOND    DAY. 

The  convention  reassembled  at  three  P.  M.,  and 
was  called  to  order  by  Judge  Matthews. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Permanent 
Organization  was  read  by  Judge  Spaulding,  of 
Cleveland.  It  announced  that  the  committee, 
with  entire  unanimity,  had  fixed  upon  Carl 
Schurz  as  permanent  chairman. 

The  announcement  was  received  with  loud  and 
continuous  cheering.  Mr.  Schurz  was  escorted  to 

*There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  New  York  delegation  was  secured 
for  Greeley,  and  his  nomination  thus  brought  about,  by  simply  packing  the 
delegation,  or  rather,  making  up  the  mob  which  came  to  Cincinnati  from 
New  York,  of  the  disreputable  Fenton  Republicans,  chiefly  from  New  York 
city,  who  had  fought  with  Greeley  (and  with  Tammany)  in  previous  campaigns. 
These  swamped  with  their  numbers  the  Revenue  Reformers  and  other  pro 
gressive  men  who  were  drawn  to  Cincinnati  by  principle,  rather  than  spoils. 


362  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  stand  by  a  gentleman,  whose  only  badge  of  dis 
tinction  was  the  reeking  stump  of  a  cigar,  tightly 
pinched  between  his  lips.  Judge  Matthews  shook 
hands  with  his  successor,  and  presented  him  to  the 
convention  with  the  briefest  possible  formula  of 
introduction. 

PRESIDENT    SCHURZ    AND    HIS    SPEECH. 

Mr.  Schurz  then  delivered  his  speech.  Its  open 
ing  sentences  were  pregnant  with  astonishment  at 
the  size  of  the  convention,  and  the  thought  that 
such  an  assemblage  was  possible.  The  American 
people  had  just  emerged  from  a  mighty  struggle  in 
the  full  pride  of  their  national  strength,  surrounded 
by  hidden  dangers  and  insidious  evils,  of  which  the 
masses  were  not  aware.  Corruption,  fostered  by 
the  war,  had  invaded  the  goverment,  and  public 
opinion  was  woefully  lenient  in  regard  to  it.  The 
government  was  disregarding  the  laws,  and  those 
in  authority  were,  through  the  public  services,  ty 
rannically  interfering  with  private  affairs  ;  men  in 
high  places  were  seeking  selfish  advantages,  thus 
corrupting  our  politics,  and  the  cries  of  partisanship 
were  drowning  the  voice  of  criticism.  Amnesty 
was  refused  to  the  South,  so  much  in  need  of 
restoration,  and  party  spirit  justified  the  ungenerous 
use  of  power.  Would  the  American  people  longer 
suffer  themselves  to  be  driven  like  a  flock  of  sheep  ? 
The  answer  was,  No  !  Love  of  liberty  was  not  dead, 
nor  did  it  intend  to  die.  These  questions,  he  said, 
were  answered  in  thundering  tones  by  the  conven- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  363 

tion  there  assembled.  The  volume  of  the  response 
had  exceeded  all  expectations.  The  conscience  of 
the  people  that  seemed  dead  had  arisen  to  new  life. 
Nothing  could  withstand  so  genuine  an  uprising. 
The  breath  of  victory  was  in  the  very  air.  The 
opportunity  presented  to  crush  corruption,  and  give 
the  country  a  pure  government  was  grand.  But  all 
selfishness  must  be  cast  backward.  The  occasion 
was  momentous,  and  the  responsibility  fearful. 

"If  [said  the  speaker]  you  disappoint  the  high  expectations  brought  forth 
by  that  spontaneous  impulse,  you  have  not  only  lost  a  great  opportunity,  but 
you  have  struck  a  blow  at  the  confidence  the  people  have  in  themselves,  and 
for  a  long  time  popular  reform  movements  will  not  rise  again  under  the 
weight  of  the  discredit  which  you  will  have  brought  upon  them.  Is  it  pos 
sible  that  such  should  be  the  result  of  our  doings?  It  is  possible  if  we  do 
not  rise  to  the  full  height  of  our  duty.  It  is  possible  if,  instead  of  following 
the  grand  impulse  of  the  popular  heart,  we  attempt  to  control  and  use  this 
movement  by  the  old  tricks  of  the  political  trade,  or  fritter  away  our  zeal  in 
small  bickerings  and  mean,  selfish  aspirations. 

********* 

"  Reform  must  become  a  farce  in  the  hands  of  those  who  either  do  not  un 
derstand  it  or  do  not  care  for  it.  If  you  mean  reform,  intrust  the  work  to 
none  but  those  who  understand  and  honestly  do  care,  and  care  more  for  it 
than  their  own  personal  ends.  Pardon  me  if  I  express  myself  on  this  point 
with  freedom  and  frankness.  I  have  not,  I  assure  you,  come  here  for  the 
purpose  of  urging  the  claims  or  advancing  the  interest  of  any  one  man 
against  all  others.  I  have  come  here  with  sincere  and  ardent  devotion  to  a 
cause,  and  to  use  my  best  endeavors  to  have  that  cause  put  under  the  care  of 
men  who  are  devoted  to  it  with  equal  sincerity,  and  possess  those  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  which  will  make  it  safe  in  their  keeping.  I  earnestly  depre 
cate  the  cry  we  have  heard  so  frequently,  'Anybody  to  beat  Grant.'  There  is 
something  more  wanted  than  to  beat  Grant — not  anybody  who  might,  by 
cheap  popularity,  or  by  astute  bargains  and  combinations,  or  by  all  the  tricks 
of  political  wire-pulling,  manage  to  scrape  together  votes  enough  to  be  elected 
President.  We  do  not  merely  want  another,  but  we  want  a  better,  President 
than  we  now  have.  We  do  not  want  a  mere  change  of  persons  in  the  admin 
istration  of  the  Government :  we  want  the  overthrow  of  a  pernicious  system; 
we  want  the  eradication  of  flagrant  abuses  ;  we  want  the  infusion  of  a  loftier 
moral  spirit  into  our  political  organism  ;  we  want  a  Government  which  the 
best  people  of  this  country  will  be  proud  of.  Not  anybody  can  accomplish 


364  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

that,  and  therefore  away  with  the  cry,   'Anybody  to  beat  Grant!' — a  cry  too 
paltry,  too  unworthy  of  the  great  enterprise  in  which  we  are  engaged." 

We  give  in  this  sketch  the  words  of  this  really 
statesmanlike  and  patriotic  speech,  chiefly  for  the 
sake  of  showing  how  completely  the  convention, 
by  its  subsequent  course,  disobeyed  its  worthy  pre 
cepts. 

The  following  gentlemen  officiated  as  the  chief 
secretaries:  General  W.  E.  McClane,  of  Indiana; 
John  X.  Davidson,  of  Minnesota  ;  D.  T.  Wright, 
of  Maine;  J.  D.  Rhodes,  of  Ohio  ;  and  each  State 
was  represented  by  a  Vice-President. 

The  Committee  on  Credentials  reported  the 
names  of  those  entitled  to  seats,  and  adversely  to 
the  contestants  in  the  New  York  delegation  Mrs. 
Laura  De  Force  Gordon  was  not  recognized  as  a 
delegate,  but  the  committee  recommended  that  she 
be  tendered  the  freedom  of  the  hall.  The  contest 
ants  in  the  California  delegation  were  declared  not 
entitled  to  seats  as  delegates,  on  the  ground  that 
they  simply  hovered  on  the  verge  of  California  civili 
zation.  Shortly  after,  Mrs.  Gordon,  from  a  place  on 
the  floor,  attempted  to  protest  against  her  exclusion. 
After  many  times  repeating  the  formula  "Mr.  Pres 
ident,"  with  the  assistance  of  a  kind  German  friend, 
she  gained  the  attention  of  the  Chair,  but  only  to 
be  courteously  told  that,  the  committee  having  ig 
nored  her  plea,  the  Chair  could  not  listen  to  her 
address.  She  still  persisted,  but  was  ungallantly 
hissed  into  silence. 

After  this  amusing  episode  the  report  of  the 
committee  was  adopted  without  change. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  365 

The  Committee  on  Rules  reported  that  they  had 
organized  by  electing  Theodore  Tilton  as  their 
chairman ;  that  the  chairman  of  each  delegation 
should  declare  the  vote  of  the  delegation  according 
to  the  manner  in  which  each  member  voted;  that  a 
majority  of  votes  should  be  necessary  to  a  choice, 
and  that  the  yeas  and  nays  should  not  be  called, 
but  if  necessary  there  should  be  a  division  of  the 
convention  by  a  call  of  the  States. 

OPPOSITION    TO    FORMAL    NOMINATION. 

At  this  point  a  vigorous  effort  was  made  to  force 
the  nomination.  Mr.  H.  J.  Stansbery  suggested 
that  the  convention  proceed  to  ballot  for  nominees; 
and  that,  as  it  was  impossible  to  expect  the  concur 
rence  of  all  the  delegates  on  the  questions  which 
were  now  before  the  country,  the  nominees  them 
selves  be  considered  the  platform.  The  suggestion 
was  interpreted  as  a  plea  for  Democratic  assistance. 
It  was  violently  opposed  by  John  Cochrane,  and 
favored  by  Mr.  McClure,  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  chair  stated  that  the  committee  had  taken 
a  recess  until  five  o'clock  without  perfecting  a  plat 
form.  Mr.  Dembite,  of  Kentucky,  thought  that 
they  understood  the  matter  as  well  now  as  they 
would  at  five  o'clock ;  he  preferred  that  a  nomina 
tion  should  be  made  here,  and  not  in  the  hotel 
down  town. 

These  efforts,  being  a  sort  of  skirmish  drill  pre 
liminary  to  the  general  battle,  were  finally  ended 
by  a  motion  of  General  Cochrane  to  lay  the  whole 


366  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

matter  on  the  table,  which  prevailed  upon  a  call  of 
the  states. 

The  gentlemen  who  desired  to  nominate  pre 
maturely,  having  failed  in  their  attempt,  endeavored 
to  effect  their  purpose  by  a  shower  of  resolutions, 
all  of  which  were  referred,  without  reading,  to  the 
Committee  on  Platform,  with  the  exception  of  one 
presented  by  Colonel  McClure,  which  was  adopted. 
This  declared  that  the  convention  would  not  pro 
ceed  to  ballot  for  candidates  before  a  platform  had 
been  adopted. 

Besides  the  meaningless  generalities  embodied 
in  these  various  expressions  of  private  opinion, 
there  were  declarations  for  the  one  term  principle, 
enactment  of  penal  laws,  punishing  by  fine  and  im 
prisonment  all  persons  found  guilty  of  bribery  and 
corruption,  abrogation  of  the  government  patron 
age  system,  and  improvement  of  morality  among 
the  officers  and  servants  of  the  people,  etc.  A  por 
tion  of  these  specific  principles  were  embodied  in 
a  series  of  resolutions,  prepared  and  presented  by 
Mr.  Braughn,  who  innocently  moved  that  they  be 
adopted  as  the  platform  of  this  convention. 

The  vast  assemblage  laughed  heartily,  and  the 
tropical  delegate  took  his  seat  discomfited. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION. 

(CONTINUED.) 

"  The  Apple  of  Discord" — Struggle  Over  the  Tariff— The  Temporary  Presi 
dent  Demands  a  Free  Fight — Reformers  Beaten  on  Both  Candidate  and 
Platform — The  Balloting  for  President — Blair's  Game — Arrival  of  Gratz 
Brown — Greeley  Forging  Ahead — Schurz  Denounces  Him  Before  the  Mis 
souri  Delegation — White  Might  Have  Saved  His  Own  Humiliation,  but 
Did  Not — Greeley  Nominated  and  Blair  Triumphant — Brown  Also — 
Chagrin  of  the  Reformers — Their  Utterances — Carl  Schurz  Plays  a  Plain 
tive  Air,  and  the  Curtain  Falls. 

EVENING    SESSION — SECOND    DAY. 

A  recess  was  taken  until  half-past  seven  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  At  that  hour  the  convention  re 
assembled.  A  prolonged  stay  in  Cincinnati  was 
beginning  to  tell  on  the  purses  of  delegates,  and 
protracted  sessions  on  their  patience.  A  large  por 
tion  were  in  no  humor  for  longer  delay. 

The  chairman  stated  that  the  Committee  on  Plat 
form  would  not  be  ready  to  report  until  morning, 
and  suggested  that  the  time  be  pieced  out  with 
speeches  such  as  are  usually  made  when  candidates 
are  named. 

General  Cochrane,  taking  advantage  of  the  situ 
ation,  moved  that  members  proceed  to  name  their 

(367) 


368  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

candidates,  and  be  allowed  ten  minutes  in  which  to 
proclaim  their  virtues  and  demonstrate  their  avail 
ability.  The  motion  prevailed  by  a  scarcely  per 
ceptible  majority.  No  one  taking  immediate  ad 
vantage  of  the  permission  to  nominate,  Mr.  Parks, 
of  New  York,  presented  a  resolution  recommend 
ing  extension  of  civil  rights  to  all,  and  universal 
amnesty.  The  resolution  was  referred.  Mr.  Allen 
followed  with  a  resolution  advising  the  appointment 
of  executive  committees  in  all  the  States. 

TARIFF    AND    OTHER    TROUBLES. 

Gilbert  H.  Peck,  of  New  Jersey,  presented  a 
resolution  in  favor  of  a  reform  in  the  manner  of 
levying  import  duties,  steadfast  resistance  to  cen 
tralization,  and  many  other  generalities.  An  In 
diana  delegate,  devoted  to  serious  business,  pre 
sented  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  declaring 
that  the  convention  would  not  defeat  the  objects 
for  which  it  was  assembled  by  adjourning  without 
a  nomination  of  candidates  for  the  position  of 
President  and  Vice-President. 

Mr.  Groesbeck,  of  Virginia,  offered  a  resolution 
against  a  restriction  of  the  presidential  office,  and 
affirming  that  every  American,  with  a  true  heart  in 
his  bosom,  was  eligible  to  the  office. 

A  resolution  presented  by  Mr.  L.  N.  Peterson, 
of  Richmond,  Pa.,  favored  an  amendment  to  the 
constitution,  providing  for  the  election  of  a  Presi 
dent,  Vice-President  and  U.  S.  Senators,  directly  by 
the  people. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  369 

Others  were  presented,  all  of  which,  with  the 
exceptions  named,  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Platform.  Among  the  rest  was  one  referring 
the  question  of  tariff  to  the  Congressional  districts. 

It  is  uncertain  how  long  this  thing  might  have 
continued,  every  member  seeming  to  have  a  reso 
lution  in  his  pocket,  had  not  Mr.  Hickman,of  Penn 
sylvania,  called  for  the  regular  order  of  business, 
which  was  understood  to  be  the  presentation  of 
candidates.  But  the  undercurrent  of  feeling  against 
a  nomination  at  that  time  was  very  vigorous.  A 
motion  to  adjourn  was  for  the  moment  defeated. 

A  delegate  from  North  Carolina  suggested  a  call 
of  States  alphabetically,  and  an  adjournment  if  no 
delegates  were  named.  A  slight  gloom  had  over 
spread  the  convention,  but  this  sally  provoked 

laughter. 

& 

Colonel  Hudson,  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  gaining 
the  attention  of  the  Chair  in  spite  of  the  confusion, 
said  he  had  been  informed  by  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Platform  that  they  were  unable  to 
agree.  As  it  was  apparent  that  the  convention  hesi 
tated  to  nominate  candidates,  and  the  Committee 
on  Platform  seemed  to  be  "  stalled"  on  the  tariff 
question,  that  question  already  having  been  decided, 
it  would  be  quite  proper  for  the  committee  to  re 
port  at  once,  that  being  the  only  impediment.  A 
delegate  suggested  that  the  tariff  resolution  pre 
sented  was  not  adopted,  only  referred.  "  Then,  sir," 
said  Colonel  Hudson,  "upon  that  question  of  the 
tariff  and  its  presentation  in  the  resolutions  just  re- 


22 


370  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

ferred  to  the  committee,  I  move  you,  sir,  a  suspen 
sion  of  the  rules  [laughter]  that  this  convention,  at 
this  very  moment,  may  take  up  that  stumbling 
block  which  hangs  in  the  way  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions,  and  remove  it  ourselves."  Great  ap 
plause  followed,  but  a  large  proportion  of  the  mem 
bers  seemed  thrilled,  and  terrified  by  a  sudden  pre 
cipitation  of  the  patent  question  upon  them. 

Infinite  confusion  succeeded,  during  which  noises 
of  all  kinds  were  heard, — calls  to  order,  for  the 
regular  order  of  business,  and  motions  whose  pur 
port  was  undistinguishable  in  the  immense  volume 
of  sound,  but  a  vote  was  finally  attained,  and  the 
suspension  of  the  rules  was  ordered,  460  voting 
for  and  229  against. 

The  States  voting  in  the  negative  were  Georgia, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Louisiana,  Minnesota,  Mis 
souri,  Massachusetts,  Mississippi,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  South  Carolina,  Ten 
nessee,  Vermont  and  Virginia.  Delaware  and 
Rhode  Island  did  not  vote  when  called  upon. 

The  vote  of  Delaware  was  cast  by  George  Alfred 
Townsend,  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Chi 
cago  Tribune.  Mr.  Townsend  is  a  native  of  Del 
aware,  but  has  not  lived  there  since  his  childhood. 
Pennsylvania  voted  as  a  unit  against  the  resolution, 
but  was  thought  secretly  to  favor  its  adoption. 

The  danger  of  committing  some  fatal  error 
seemed  at  this  moment  to  be  imminent,  but  the  in 
telligence  was  conveyed  to  the  Chair  that  the  Com 
mittee  on  Platform  had  adopted  the  tariff  plank. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION. 

He  rose  hastily  and  imparted  the  information  briefly 
to  the  assembly. 

"  Only  two  votes  dissenting  out  of  the  whole 
committee,"  added  David  A.  Wells,  sotto  voce. 

"Let  it  be  read,"  called  out  an  impatient  delegate. 

"Wait  until  to-morrow,"  exclaimed  Judge  Hoad- 
ley. 

There  were  many  and  loud  cries  of  "  No,  no ; 
now!"  during  the  prevalence  of  which  J.  H.  Rhodes, 
of  Cleveland,  moved  that  the  tariff  resolution  of 
the  committee  be  referred  back  to  them  for  consid 
eration. 

In  response  to  an  objection,  the  Chair  stated  that 
the  rules  had  been  suspended  for  all  purposes.  Mr. 
Rhodes  moved  that  the  resolution  of  Colonel  Hud 
son  be  referred  to  the  committee,  with  instructions 
to  report  it  to  the  convention.  There  was  renewed 
confusion,  which  fell  into  partial  quiet  when  Cassius 
M.  Clay  appeared  upon  the  platform. 

Mr.  Clay  shook  his  gray  locks,  and  launched 
boldly  out  upon  a  sea  of  oratory.  He  deprecated 
the  debate  on  the  tariff  question,  and  deplored  the 
condition  of  the  South,  "overrode"  by  military  des 
potism.  The  latter  point  he  thought  of  infinitely 
more  importance.  The  former  he  characterized, 
with  his  usual  felicity  of  eloquence  and  metaphor, 
as  an  "apple  of  discord." 

The  torrent  of  eloquence  poured  forth  with  such 
resistless  energy  was  finally  stopped  by  the  ten 
minute  barrier  wisely  erected  at  an  early  stage  of 
the  proceedings. 


372  THE  STRUGGLE  OF 


AN  EXPLOSION. 

It  remained,  however,  for  Judge  Stanley  Mat 
thews  to  fire  the  train  so  ingeniously  laid  by  pre 
vious  speakers.  He  professed  to  deprecate  the 
'question  of  the  tariff,  sprung  upon  the  convention 
while  the  Committee  on  Platforms  was  in  session, 
and  continued  when  it  was  fully  understood  that 
the  committee  had  agreed  upon  a  tariff  plank  with 
great  unanimity.  After  these  words  of  peace  and 
placation,  he  ended  his  remarks  in  the  following 
fiery  style,  his  metaphors  being  borrowed  from  the 
slang  of  the  lower  Mississippi : 

"  Now,  if  this  is  to  be  a  free  fight,  let  us  make  it  a  fair  one,  and  I  have  a 
counter  proposition,  the  proposition  which  was  used  as  the  basis  of  the  call 
for  this  convention,  which  I  will  read,  and  move  as  a  substitute  for  the  pro 
position  pending  before  the  body.  It  is  in  these  words  : 

Resolved,  That  no  form  of  taxation  is  just  or  wise  which  puts  needless 
burdens  upon  the  people.  We  demand  a  reform  of  the  tariff,  so  that  those 
duties  shall  be  removed  which,  in  addition  to  the  revenue  yielded  to  the 
Treasury,  involve  increase  in  the  price  of  domestic  products,  and  a  conse 
quent  tax  for  the  benefit  of  favorite  interests. 

[Great  applause  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  will  tell  you  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  entered  into  this 
movement.  It  was  that  I  might  assist  in  the  work  of  emancipating  the 
politics  and  the  business  of  this  country  from  the  domination  of  rings.  [Ap 
plause.]  I  mean  political  rings  in  Washington  ;  I  mean  railroad  rings,  which 
are  stealing  our  public  lands  [applause],  and  I  mean//°-  iron  rings,  which  are 
robbing  the  people  [great  applause],  and  which,  under  pretense  of  relieving  the 
burdens  of  the  people,  are  taking  taxes  off  from  tea  and  coffee  in  order  that 
they  may  keep  them  up  on  salt  and  iron." 

An  increasing  restlessness  had  been  observed 
during  the  continuation  of  Judge  Matthews' speech. 

When  he  had  finished  the  inflammatory  para 
graph  quoted,  several  gentlemen  into  whose  souls 
the  pig  iron  had  entered,  rose  to  their  feet  with  a 
spasmodic  movement 


THF    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  373 

The  points  of  order  were  innumerable.  Judge 
Matthews  attempted  to  hold  the  floor  on  the  ground 
that  the  rules  were  suspended.  No  assistance  was 
vouchsafed  by  the  chairman,  who  fully  recognized 
the  perils  of  the  situation.  He  simply  said  that  but 
one  rule  had  been  suspended,  which  was  that  all 
resolutions  should  be  referred  without  debate. 
Upon  this  the  incendiary  orator  retired  from  the 
stand. 

The  next  bold  Roman  to  leap  into  the  breach 
was  Edward  Atkinson,  of  Massachusetts,  a  courte 
ous  gentleman  unused  to  the  turmoil  of  active  poli 
tics,  and  not  informed  with  the  zeal  which  charac 
terizes  the  mere  partisan.  He  took  the  stand  with 
perceptible  hesitancy,  and  said,  speaking  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  committee,  that  the  delay  in  the  report 
was  not  caused  by  difference  in  regard  to  the  tariff 
plank.  Not  being  the  chairman,  he  might  not  re 
port  the  vote  properly,  and  no  copy  was  at  hand 
from  which  he  might  read..  The  sub-committee  had 
acted,  in  fine,  the  whole  committee  had  acted,  and 
the  action  had  been  nearly  unanimous.  Haste  at 
a  juncture  like  this  would  only  hinder. 

Just  as  Mr.  Atkinson  was  going  on  to  hint  at 
what  was  really  going  on  in  the  committee,  General 
Cake,  of  Pennsylvania,  rose  and  inquired  whether 
it  would  be  in  order  in  that  place  for  a  member  of 
the  committee  to  report.  The  Chair  decided  Mr. 
Atkinson,  to  be  in  order.  The  gentle  Atkinson 
went  on  timorously  and  apologetically,  fearing  to 
offend,  and  said  he  was  simply  speaking  for  har- 


374  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

mony,  which  certainly  at  that  moment  seemed  to  be 
a  scarce  article.  He  closed  with  a  mixed  motion  to 
lay  on  the  table  the  suspension  of  the  rules  and  the 
pending  resolution. 

Various  gentlemen  attempted  to  speak,  but  were 
crushed  with  the  statement  of  the  Chair  that  the 
question  was  not  debatable.  Among  those  who 
struggled  hardest  to  gain  the  recognition  of  Mr. 
Schurz,  was  Colonel  McClure,  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  moved  to  rule  the  question  debatable.  He 
was  compelled  to  succumb  to  the  rulings,  although 
having  a  little  spasmodic  aid  from  Judge  Hoadley. 

Mr.  Rhodes,  of  Cleveland,  fearing  the  business 
would  get  into  the  committee  and  make  trouble, 
moved  to  amend  so  as  to  lay  on  the  table  until  the 
Committee  on  Platform  had  reported.  The  motion 
was  ignored.  The  motion  of  Mr.  Atkinson  prevailed, 
amid  great  noise  and  confusion  and  not  a  little  mani 
festation  of  ill  temper  in  the  Pennsylvania  delega 
tion.  Colonel  McClure  was  eager  for  the  fray. 

After  voting  to  have  a  call  of  the  States,  so  that 
each  might  nominate,  the  convention  adjourned 
until  the  next  morning  at  ten  o'clock.  McClure  was 
said  to  have  so  far  forgot  himself  in  the  excitement 
of  the  moment  as  to  have  said  that,  could  he  have 
reached  Carl  Schurz  upon  the  platform,  he  would 
have  put  a  fanciful  ornament  on  his  frontispiece. 

It  was  further  recounted  that,  as  the  satisfaction 
next  accessible,  he  approached  Judge  Matthews,  and, 
with  a  refreshing  forgetfulness,  asked  him  the  lead 
ing  question — "Why  are  you  not  honest?"  "I  am," 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  375 

replied  Judge  Matthews,  neglecting  to  add,  "but 
indiscreet."  To  which  the  tall  Pennsylvanian  re 
sponded  with  the  assertion,  "No,  you  are  not.  Your 
resolution  was  a  Jesuitical  cheating  sham." 

With  such  touching  interchange  of  feeling  as 
this  between  delegates,  the  convention  ended  the 
last  session  of  the  second  day  of  its  existence.  The 
three  sessions  had  been  noisy  without  being  at  all 
enthusiastic.  The  spectators  on  the  floor  had  ap 
plauded  moderately,  and  the  silence  of  the  galleries 
had  been  funereal.  The  situation,  when  the  dele 
gates  separated  for  the  night,  was  ominous. 

FACTS,  RUMORS  AND  SPECULATIONS. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  convention,  rumor 
again  became  busy.  Not  having  the  concrete  and 
tangible  to  deal  with,  recourse  was  had  to  the  im 
agination.  Before  the  convention  met  in  the  eve 
ning  it  was  understood  that  the  Committee  on  Plat 
form  had  agreed  upon  the  tariff  plank.  Therefore, 
surprise  was  common  when  Mr.  Schurz  stated  that 
the  committee  were  not  prepared  to  report.  It  was 
currently  reported  about  the  city  that  the  Presi 
dent  was  endeavoring  to  gain  time  until  an  answer 
could  come  to  the  following  dispatch  sent  during 
the  day : 

CINCINNATI,  May  2, 1872. 
To  Horace  Greeley,  Tribune  Office.  New,  York  : 

We  can  secure  the  nomination  of  Trumbull  for  the  first  place  if  you  will 
accept  the  second  place  on  the  ticket.     Will  you  ?     Answer. 

[Signed]  CARL  SCHURZ. 

The  break  between  Schurz  and  a  portion  of  the 


376  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Missouri  delegation  had  already  occurred,  the  Sen 
ator  not  deeming  Governor  Brown  the  most  eligi- 
gible  candidate  for  the  Presidential  office.  But  the 
Adams  men  had  supposed  Schurz  to  be  working  in 
their  interest,  and  were  not  prepared  consequently 
for  an  out  and  out  declaration  for  Trumbull.  The 
rumor  of  the  dispatch  brought  Davis  and  Adams 
men  here  and  there  into  council.  An  offer  to  trade 
from  the  former  to  the  leaders  of  the  latter  elicited 
the  reply  that,  if  they  agreed  to  do  so,  inforcement 
of  the  contract  would  be  impossible. 

The  combinations  most  talked  of  were  Trumbull 
and  Greeley,  and  Adams  and  Brown.  Other  names 
were  mentioned  in  connection,  but  the  general  in 
disposition  of  candidates  to  accept  the  second  place 
on  the  ticket  rendered  the  chances  for  their  success 
hopeless.  Among  the  possible  candidates  was  Wm. 
S.  Groesbeck,  of  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Groesbeck  is  a 
venerable  and  dignified  Democrat  with  the  instincts 
of  a  gentleman,  the  purse  of  Fortunatus,  and  the 
lingering  hope  of  some  office  of  importance  to  en 
noble  his  declining  years,  and  lift  him  into  immor 
tality.  He  had  been  too  many  years  trimming, 
with  a  view  to  the  disruption  of  existing  parties, 
and  the  creation  of  a  new  one,  of  which  he  should 
be  the  stately  idol.  This  course  had  continued  too 
long,  and  his  expectations  were  too  well  known  to 
permit  of  his  accepting  the  second  place,  even  if 
he  had  so  desired.  Up  to  the  last  moment  he  was 
occasionally  seen  among  the  throng  at  the  Burnett 
House,  discussing  the  situation  with  interest,  but 
still  with  antiquated  dignity. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  379 

THE    TARIFF    IMBROGLIO. 

The  Committee  on  Platform  were  in  session  all 
day  on  Thursday  and  deep  into  the  small  hours  of 
Thursday  night.  The  discussions  were  earnest,  and 
occasionally  personal.  The  furniture  of  the  parlor 
at  the  St.  James,  where  the  meetings  were  held,  was 
badly  abused.  With  much  exertion  John  D.  De- 
frees,  delegate  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  se 
cured  the  adoption  of  the  following — a  variation  of 
the  device  submitted  by  Greeley,  through  his  con 
fidential  agent,  Whitelaw  Reid  : 

A  tariff  being  necessary  to  create  a  sufficient  revenue  to  discharge  the  pe 
cuniary  obligations  of  the  government,  and  its  enactment  and  its  adjustment 
of  details  being  the  constitutional  province  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people  in  Congress  assembled,  it  should  be  submitted  to  their  action  un 
molested  by  executive  interference. 

But,  overheated  with  toil,  and  burning  with  thirst, 
he  left  to  secure  a  glass  of  ice-water  to  cool  his 
parched  tongue,  and  the  vote  upon  it  was  recon 
sidered. 

In  a  sub-committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Defrees, 
Hon.  Daniel  A.  Wells,  and  Hon.  George  Hoadley, 
the  following  was  finally  adopted  after  prolenged 
debate  : 

Resolved,  That  all  taxes  should  be  levied  only  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
the  current  expenses  of  the  government,  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  the 
pensions  to  disabled  soldiers  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  late  war, 
and  a  fair  per  cent,  of  annual  reduction  on  the  principal  of  the  public  debt  ; 
that  none  of  these  taxes  should  be  levied  so  as  to  promote  the  interests  of  any 
particular  class,  or  oppress  the  industrial  pursuits  of  any  particular  section  ; 
nevertheless,  assembled  in  this  convention  we  declare  that  as  the  President 
of  the  United  States  is  an  executive,  and  not  a  legislative  officer,  the  subject 
of  taxes  should  be  left  to  Congress  in  the  belief  that  the  President  will  exe 
cute  the  laws  made  by  Congress." 


380  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

The  full  committee  concurred  in  the  report  of 
the  sub-committee,  and  the  matter  was  thought  by 
most  to  be  settled.  But  Colonel  McClure  thought 
differently.  He  swore  with  many  oaths,  and 
"  ne'er  a  true  one,"  that  the  tariff  plank  was  a 
"  wishy-washy"  affair,  and  invoked  eternal  perdition 
if  he  ever  accepted  it.  He  prepared  the  following, 
which  he  declared  he  would  present  to  the  conven 
tion  the  following  morning. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  raising  of  a  revenue  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
national  credit  is  a  sacred  obligation,  imposed  by  the  fundamental  law,  the 
levying  of  import  duties  is  a  duty  the  details  of  which  belong  to  the  people 
of  the  whole  country  through  their  representatives  in  Congress  assembled, 
and  such  policy  when  established  shall  be  left  free  from  executive  interference. 

THE    SITUATION    ON    THURSDAY    NIGHT. 

Caucusing  continued  until  after  midnight  with 
out  any  particular  change  in  the  situation.  The 
Adams  men  were  confident.  The  Davis  men  had 
lost  hope,  but  still  put  on  a  bold  front.  The  Trum- 
bull  men  were  disheartened  by  the  continued  ag 
gressiveness  of  the  Davis  men,  and  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  say  so  to  their  intimate  friends.  The  friends 
of  Greeley  thought  the  nomination  of  their  candi 
date  possible ;  that  was  all  Theodore  Tilton 
worked  for  him  incessantly,  especially  among  the 
delegates  from  the  Southern  States,  with  whom  his 
sonorous  periods  and  sophomoric  eloquence  had 
considerable  weight.  Whitelaw  Reid  had  been  on 
the  ground  for  several  days,  in  constant  telegraphic 
communication  with  his  principal.  The  communi 
cations  were  shown  to  a  select  coterie  of  intimates, 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  381 

and  their  contents  by  them  from  time  to  time  dis 
seminated.  One  or  two  were  published  in  the  pa 
pers.  They  generally  advised  the  ignoring  of  the 
tariff  question,  or  its  direct  reference  to  the  people. 

BLAIR    AND    BROWN. 

Late  at  night  it  was  noised   about  among  a  few 
that  Frank  Blair  and  Gratz  Brown  were  in  the  city. 

There  was  great  surprise  and  not  a  little  uneasi 
ness.  It  had  been  authoritatively  stated  that 
Brown  had  too  delicate  a  sense  of  honor  to  be  at 
the  convention,  and  the  presence  of  Blair  portended 
good  to  no  one.  What  conferences  the  lateness  of 
the  hour  permitted  after  the  arrival  of  the  twain, 
were  with  the  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  dele 
gates.  What  was  really  done  and  contemplated 
was  known  to  a  very  limited  number  of  persons. 
Outside  of  this  circle,  the  life  of  which  was  sup 
posed  to  be  McClure,  everything  was  strangely 
misconstrued.  The  real  state  of  the  case  was  not 
suspected.  It  was  conjectured  by  most  that  Brown 
was  to  be  put  forward  for  the  second  place  on  the 
ticket  either  with  Adams  or  Trumbull  as  principal. 
The  influence  which  Pennsylvania  really  had  in  the 
convention,  and  its  pivotal  position,  were  fully  de 
termined  by  the  events  of  the  succeeding  day.  To 
have  defended  protection  against  the  aggressive 
free-traders,  and  left  the  tariff  question  untouched 
in  the  canvas,  was  a  great  victory.  Not  to  take 
the  fortress  which  they  were  storming,  was  to  the 
partisans  of  revenue  reform  an  ignominious  defeat. 


382  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Pennsylvania  secured  the  adoption  of  its  own  plat 
form,  and  put  its  candidates  upon  it.  The  confer 
ences  which  preluded  the  nomination  of  Greeley 
and  Brown  were  held  with  the  utmost  secrecy. 
What  was  agreed  upon  was  communicated  to  less 
than  a  dozen  miscellaneous  delegates,  and  under  a 
pledge  of  eternal  silence. 

The  convention  was  called  to  order  punctually 
at  ten  o'clock. 

The  Chairman  sat  down  with  disturbed  looks. 
Colonel  G.  Moore,  of  Missouri,  presented  a  reso 
lution  dispensing  with  the  formal  nomination  of 
candidates.  It  was  adopted,  after  some  confusion. 

REPORT    OF    THE    COMMITTEE    ON    PLATFORM. 

The  Chair  announced  to  the  convention  that  the 
Committee  on  Platform  was  ready  to  report. 

There  were  cries  of  "  Good,  good,"  and  loud 
cheers. 

Mr.  Schurz  further  stated  that  he  had  been  re 
quested  to  read  the  resolutions  on  account  of  the 
vocal  weakness  of  the  Chairman  of  the  committee, 
(Mr.  White)  and  also  asked  to  state  that  the  con 
currence  of  the  committee  in  the  report  was  almost 
unanimous. 

The  President  read  the  report  as  follows : 

The  administration  now  in  power  has  rendered  itself  guilty  of  wanton  dis 
regard  of  the  laws  of  the  land  in  the  exercise  of  powers  not  granted  by  the 
Constitution.  It  has  acted  as  if  the  laws  had  binding  force  only  for  those 
who  are  governed,  and  not  for  those  who  govern.  It  has  thus  struck  a  blow 
at  the  fundamental  principle  of  constitutional  government  and  the  liberties 
of  the  citizen. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  openly  used  the  powers  and  oppor- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  383 

tunities  of  his  high  office  for  the  promotion  of  personal  ends.  He  has  kept 
notoriously  corrupt  and  unworthy  men  in  places  of  power  and  responsibility, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  public  interest. 

He  has  used  the  public  service  of  the  government  as  a  machinery  of  parti 
san  and  personal  influence,  and  interfered,  with  tyrannical  arrogance,  in  the 
political  affairs  of  States  and  municipalities. 

He  has  rewarded,  with  influential  and  lucrative  offices,  men  who  had  ac 
quired  his  favor  by  valuable  presents,  thus  stimulating  the  demoralization  of 
our  political  life  by  his  conspicuous  example. 

He  has  shown  himself  deplorably  unequal  to  the  tasks  imposed  upon  him 
by  the  necessities  of  the  country,  and  culpably  careless  of  the  responsibilities 
of  his  high  office. 

The  partisans  of  the  administration,  assuming  to  be  the  Republican  party 
and  controlling  its  organization,  have  attempted  to  justify  such  wrongs  and 
palliate  such  abuses,  to  the  end  of  maintaining  partisan  ascendency. 

They  have  stood  in  the  way  of  necessary  investigations  and  indispensable 
reforms,  pretending  that  no  serious  fault  could  be  found  with  the  present  ad 
ministration  of  public  affairs,  thus  seeking  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

They  have  kept  alive  the  passions  and  resentments  of  the  late  civil  war,  to 
use  them  for  their  own  advantage.  They  have  resorted  to  arbitrary  measures 
in  direct  conflict  with  the  organic  law,  instead  of  appealing  to  the  better  in 
stincts  and  latent  patriotism  of  the  Southern  people  by  restoring  to  them 
those  rights,  the  enjoyment  of  which  is  indispensable  for  a  successful  admin 
istration  of  their  local  affairs,  and  would  tend  to  restore  a  patriotic  national 
feeling.  They  have  degraded  themselves  and  the  name  of  their  party,  once 
justly  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  nation,  by  a  base  sycophancy  to  the 
dispenser  of  executive  power  and  patronage  unworthy  of  Republican  freemen. 
They  have  sought  to  silence  the  voice  of  just  criticism,  to  stifle  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people,  and  to  subjugate  public  opinion  by  tyrannical  party  dis 
cipline  ;  they  are  striving  to  maintain  themselves  in  authority  for  selfish  ends 
by  an  unscrupulous  use  of  the  power  which  rightfully  belongs  to  the  people, 
and  should  be  employed  only  in  the  service  of  the  country. 

Believing  that  no  organization  thus  led  and  controlled  can  longer  be  of 
service  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Republic,  we  have  resolved  to  make  an  in 
dependent  appeal  to  the  sober  judgment,  conscience,  and  patriotism  of  the 
American  people. 

We,  the  Liberal  Republicans  of  the  United  States,  in  national  convention 
assembled  at  Cincinnati,  proclaim  the  following  principles  as  essential  to 'just 
government  : 

1.  We  recognize  the  equality  of  all  before  the  law,  and  hold  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  government  in  its  dealings  with  the  people  to  mete  out  equal  and  ex 
act  justice  to  all  of  whatever  nativity,  race,  color,  or  persuasion,  religious  or 
political. 

2.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  maintain  the  Union  of  the  States,  emancipation 


384  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    'j2. 

and  enfranchisement,  and  oppose  any  re-opening  of  the  questions  settled  by 
the  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Fifteenth  amendments  of  the  Constitution. 

3.  We  demand  immediate  and  absolute  removal  of  all  disabilities  imposed 
on  account  of  the   rebellion,  which  was  finally  subdued  seven  years  ago,  be 
lieving  that  universal  amnesty  will  result  in  complete  pacification  in  all  sec 
tions  of  the  country. 

4.  Local  self-government,  with  impartial  suffrage,  will  guard  the  rights  of 
all  citizens  more  securely  than  any  centralized  power.     The  public  welfare  re 
quires  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military  authority,  and  the  free 
dom  of  person  under  the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus.     We  demand  for 
the  individual  the  largest  liberty  consistent  with  the  public  order,  for  the 
State  self-government,  and  for  the  nation  return  to  the  methods  of  peace  and 
the  constitutional  limitation  of  power. 

5.  The  civil  service  of  the  government  has  become  a  mere   instrument  of 
partisan  tyranny  and  personal  ambition,  and  an  object  of  selfish  greed.     It 
is  a  scandal  and  reproach  upon  free  institutions,  and  breeds  a  demoralization 
dangerous  to  the  prosperity  of  republican  government. 

6.  We  therefore  regard  a  thorough  reform  of  the  civil  service  as  one  of  the 
most  pressing  necessities  of  the  hour  ;  that  honesty,  capacity  and  fidelity  con 
stitute  the  only  valid  claims  to  public  employment ;    that   the  offices  of  the 
government  cease  to  be  a  matter  of  arbitrary  favoritism  and  patronage,  and 
that  public  stations  become  again  a  post  of  honor.     To  this  end  it  is  impera 
tively  required  that  no  President  shall  be  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

7.  We  demand  a  system  of  Federal  taxation  which  shall  not   necessarily 
interfere  with  the  industry  of  the  people,  and  shall  provide  sufficient  means 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  government,  economically  administered,  pensions, 
and  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  a  moderate  annual  reduction  of  the 
principal  thereof;  but,,  recognizing  the  existence  in  our  midst  of  honest,  but 
irreconcilable,  differences  of  opinion  upon  the  merits  of  the  respective  sys 
tems  of  protection  and  free  trade,  we  remit  the  discussion  of  the  subject  to 
the  people  in  their  congressional  districts  and  to  the  decision  of  Congress 
thereon,  wholly  free  from  executive  interference  or  dictation. 

8.  The  public  credit  must  be  sacredly  maintained,  and  we  denounce  repu 
diation  in  every  form  and  guise. 

9.  A  speedy  return  to  specie  payment   is   demanded  alike  by  the  highest 
considerations  of  commercial  morality  and  honest  government. 

10.  We  remember  with  gratitude  the  heroism  aud  sacrifices  of  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  of  the  republic,  and  no  act  of  ours  shall  ever  detract  from  their 
justly  earned  fame  or  the  full  rewards  of  their  patriotism. 

11.  We  are  opposed  to  all  further  grants  of  land  to  railroads  or  other  cor 
porations.     The  public  domain  should  be  held  sacred  to  actual  settlers. 

12.  We  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government,  in  its  intercourse  with 
foreign  nations,  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  peace  by  treating  witk  all  on 
fair  and  equal   terms,  regarding  it  alike  dishonorable  either  to  demand  what 
is  not  right,  or  to  submit  to  what  is  wrong. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  385 

13.  For  the  promotion  and  success  of  these  vital  principles,  and  the  sup 
port  of  the  candidate  nominated  by  this  cenvention,  we  invite,  and  cordially 
welcome,  the  co-operation  of  all  patriotic  citizens,  without  regard  to  previous 
political  affiliations. 

General  Burnett,  of  Cincinnati,  moved  the  adop 
tion  of  the  "  second  Declaration  of  Independence" 
by  acclamation.  The  motion  prevailed  amid  riot 
ous  enthusiasm  caused  rather  by  the  consciousness 
of  really  having  a  platform  safe  and  sound  after 
much  tribulation,  than  by  the  nature  of  the  princi 
ples  presented. 

After  the  turmoil  partially  subsided,  the  Presi 
dent  said,  "The  Chair  announces,  with  gratification 
and  pride,  that  the  resolutions  are  adopted  by  a 
unanimous  vote."  The  gratification  of  the  vast 
assembly  at  having  at  last  touched  bottom  again 
welled  to  the  surface  in  fainter  efforts  at  applause. 

The  Chair  stated  that  the  question  recurred  on 
the  nomination  of  candidates. 

A  spasmodic  effort  was  made  to  secure  formal 
nominations.  The  Chair  directed  the  roll-call  to 
proceed. 

FIRST    BALLOT. 

The  first  ballot  resulted  as  follows. 

STATES.  ADAMS.  TRUMBULL.  DAVIS.  GREELEY.  BROWN.  CURTIN. 

Alabama __  3  2             7 

Arkansas I  i  _.            _.             10 

California. __  6           ._               6 

Connecticut 12  .. 

Delaware 6 

Florida. 6 

Georgia 2  2  2             4             12 

Illinois _     ..  21  21 

Indiana. 8  14  6 


386  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

STATES.  ADAMS.  TRUMHULL.  DAVIS.  GKEELEY.  BROWN.  CURTIM. 

Iowa --  9  2  7  4 

Kansas. --  10 

Kentucky - *6  2  6 

Louisiana 4  8  2 

Maine. -    14 

Maryland 2  I  13 

Massachusetts — 22  4 

Michigan 18 

Minnesota ..91 

Mississippi  —  _ 4  4  2  6 

Missouri 3° 

Nebraska ..  3  --  2  I  .. 

Nevada ..__  ._  ..  --  6 

New  Hampshire  _. ..  ..  8 

New  Jersey 5  _-  _.  5  7 

New  York 2  ..  ..  66 

North  Carolina ..  ..  I2j£         5 

Ohio 44 

Oregon ..  __  ..  ..  6 

Pennsylvania _-  __  _.  -.  ._  56 

Rhode   Island 8 

South  Carolina _.  2  12 

Tennessee n  6  i  __  4 

Texas 2  ..  14 

Vermont _     I  _.  7 

Virginia 6  5  5  -  _  _  6 

West  Virginia 5  _.  3  2 

Wisconsin 10  541 

Total 203  108         92*^        129  92  62 

Chase,  2^. 

When  Judge  Casey,  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
offered  the  vote  of  his  delegation,  the  chairman  ex 
pressed  the  opinion  that  as  the  present  was  a  lib 
eral  convention,  and  all  national  conventions  had 
admitted  the  territories  to  vote,  they  should  be  so 
allowed  on  this  occasion. 

Objections  were  made,  and  the  territories  were 
excluded  from  the  ballot. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  387 

ENTER    GRATZ    BROWN. 

At  this  point  occurred  the  most  remarkable  epi 
sode  of  the  convention.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri, 
had  been  for  some  time  sitting  with  the  Missouri 
delegation,  whose  place  was  a  few  seats  from  the 
platform,  and  to  the  left  of  the  chairman.  He  was 
now  observed  to  have  risen,  and  to  be  endeavoring 
to  gain  the  eye  of  that  official.  The  chair  seemed 
disinclined  to  recognize  the  governor  of  Missouri. 
After  having  once  or  twice  enunciated  the  formula, 
"  Mr.  President ,"  Mr.  Brown  slowly  skirted  the  re 
porters'  platform,  picking  his  way  with  difficulty 
through  the  narrow  lane,  closely  hemmed  in  by  ex 
cited  people,  and  making  his  way  with  difficulty  to 
ward  the  steps  of  the  platform.  The  chair  seemed 
startled  and  uncertain  how  to  act.  When  the  in 
truder  was  nearing  the  steps,  and  recognition  could 
be  no  longer  postponed,  Mr.  Schurz  said  :  "  A  gentle 
man,  who  is  recognized  by  the  chair  as  not  a  mem 
ber  of  this  convention,  desires  to  make  a  personal 
explanation  to  the  convention,  and  being  a  gentle 
man  who  had  been  voted  for  by  a  large  number  of 
delegates  as  a  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  chair  submits  to  the  convention 
whether  or  not  leave  should  be  granted  him  by 
unanimous  consent.  That  gentleman  is  Governor 
Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri." 

As  this  was  delivered,  there  was  an  appealing 
wave  of  the  hand,  and  a  glance  of  the  eye,  that 
swept  the  house  to  the  farthest  seat.  No  whisper 

23 


388  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

of  objection  was  wafted  to  the  anxious  ear  of  the 
speaker.  Had  there  been  a  breath  of  remonstrance, 
the  speech  of  Mr.  Brown  would  never  have  been 
made.  But  the  only  sounds  heard  were,  "  leave, 
leave ! "  and  applause.  The  voice  of  dissent  was 
delicately  silent.  The  majority  were  too  much  as 
tonished  to  take  action,  not  having  even  the  faintest 
idea  of  what  was  to  occur. 


BROWN'S  SPEECH. 


As  Brown  ascended  the  steps  to  the  platform,  the 
sunlight,  finding  entrance  through  some  opening  in 
the  lofty  roof,  struck  fully  upon  his  red  hair,  giving 
it  an  intenser  fiery  tinge,  and  making  his  head  seem 
not  as  if  encircled  by  a  golden  aureole,  but  as 
though  it  were  really  the  flaming  torch  of  discord. 
Having  attained  his  position,  and  turned  his  hag 
gard  face  toward  the  audience,  he  said : 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION  :  Although  a 
delegate  to  this  convention,  it  has  not  been  possible  for  me  to  meet  with  you 
until  to-day,  as  I  have  been  detained  at  home  by  official  business.  And  now 
when  I  come  in  for  the  first  time,  I  find  myself  in  an  embarrassing  position. 
Some  of  my  friends  from  my  own  State,  and  many  from  other  States,  have 
done  me  the  honor  to  cast  their  votes  for  me  for  the  highest  office  in  the  gift 
of  the  nation.  [Applause.]  Now,  I  do  not  disguise  it  from  myself  that  this 
is  a  prize  worthy  of  the  ambition  of  any  man  on  the  broad  face  of  this  globe. 
[Applause.]  I  also  recognize  the  fact  that  it  requires  ability,  culture,  experi 
ence,  age,  and  many  qualities  which  my  modesty  forbids  me  to  believe,  and 
which  my  judgment  convinces  me,  I  do  not  possess.  [Cheers.] 

I  therefore,  after  tendering  to  you,  gentlemen,  my  thanks  for  the  compli 
ment  which  you  have  given  me,  desire  to  say  in  brief  that  I  came  to  this  con 
vention  with  no  personal  ends  to  accomplish  ;  that  I  am  animated  sincerely 
and  solely  by  a  desire  of  victory  in  this  contest.  [Applause.]  We  want  a 
man  nominated  who  will  carry  the  largest  Republican  vote  in  this  nation  in 
defiance  of  the  regular  Grant  organization  [applause],  and  that  man,  in  my 
judgment,  is  Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  of  New  York.  [Applause  and  hisses.]" 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  389 

The  voice  of  the  orator  was  shaky.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  describe  the  immediate  effect  of 
his  speech  upon  the  majority  of  the  convention. 
There  was  a  sudden  pause,  a  momentary  paralysis, 
a  temporary  deprivation  of  speech.  The  whole 
corrupt  bargain  of  the  previous  night — the  mean 
ing  of  the  Brown  and  Blair  irruption,  was  appa 
rent.  There  was  a  spasm  of  intense  indignation. 
Had  the  delegates  been  less  dignified,  had  they 
been  men  on  a  level  with  the  ordinary  workingmen 
in  culture,  they  would  have  risen  in  the  might  of 
their  wrath  and  cast  Gratz  Brown  beyond  the 
threshold  of  the  hall.  That  was,  without  exagger 
ation,  the  feeling  of  the  moment.  The  Missouri 
delegation  shared  in  the  momentary  revulsion  of 
feeling,  and  glared  at  their  late  leader  in  astonish 
ment.  It  was  only  the  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  delegations  that  looked  upon  the  scene  un 
moved,  and  with  a  show  of  approbation.  Friends 
of  Greeley  outside  of  these  States  would  have  been 
glad  to  see  the  success  of  their  candidate,  but  they 
hoped  for  less  questionable  means. 

Several  gentlemen  endeavored  to  get  the  floor  in 
order,  it  was  supposed,  to  change  their  votes,  but 
were  not  successful. 

The  vote  was  announced  as  follows  :  Adams,  233  ; 
Davis,  92^:  Brown,  95;  Chase,  2^;  Trumbull, 
no;  Greeley,  147;  Curtin,  62. 

A  Kentucky  delegate  attempted  to  add  fuel  to 
the  excitement  by  insinuating  that  Cassius  M.  Clay, 
chairman  of  the  delegation,  had  not  correctly  stated 
the  vote. 


39O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

Mr.  Clay  said  he  had  been  too  long  in  public  life 
to  reply  to  the  imputation  upon  his  honor.  He  had 
stated  the  vote  as  he  understood  it. 

SCHURZ'S    SPEECH    IN    THE    MISSOURI    DELEGATION. 

The  delegation  from  Missouri  asked  leave  to  re 
tire  for  consultation.  Mr.  Schurz  relinquished  the 
chair  to  Mr.  Julian,  and  followed  into  the  north 
wing  of  the  Industrial  building. 

The  Missouri  delegation  were  gathered  loosely 
about  one  of  the  long  tables.  On  one  side  of  it 
stood  Schurz,  speaking  in  an  animated  manner. 
His  face  was  flushed,  and  his  appearance  nervous 
and  agitated.  Gratz  Brown  was  stalking  about  on 
the  edge  of  the  crowd,  his  dejected  looks  bent  on 
the  ground,  and  his  cloak  hanging  carelessly  from 
one  shoulder.  After  a  few  preliminary  remarks 
Mr.  Schurz  said: 

"  I  think  the  conventioa  would  make  a  fatal  error  in  nominating  Greeley 
for  the  presidency.  Instead  of  being  the  strongest  candidate  that  can  be  put 
forward,  I  regard  him  as  the  weakest.  It  is  not  possible  for  him  to  win  the 
German  vote.  He  has  been  a  life -long  temperance  man,  and  his  name  has 
been  associated  with  the  most  ultra  and  unreasonable  acts  of  which  they 
have  been  guilty.  He  is  therefore  most  objectionable.  The  Liberal  ticket 
cannot  be  elected  without  Ohio  and  Illinois.  Neither  of  these  States  can  be 
carried  by  Mr.  Greeley.  I  have  known  Mr.  Greeley  for  fifteen  years,  and 
our  relations  during  that  time  have  been  of  the  most  friendly  character.  But 
he  is  not  by  nature  or  by  education  suited  to  fill  the  presidential  office.  His 
lack  of  dignity,  his  idiosyncracies,  his  many  crotchets,  eminently  unfit  him 
for  appropriately  occupying  so  high  and  honorable  a  position." 

Mr.  Schurz  returned  to  the  Adams  chair,  looking 
depressed  and  several  years  older  than  when  he 
left  it. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  39! 

Several  unavailing  efforts  were  made  to  have  the 
territories  recognized  in  the  balloting,  but  they 
were  disposed  of  by  cries  of  "ballot,  ballot  !"  'no, 
no,  that  wont  do,"  "put  them  out,"  and  such  ele 
gant  invocations  to  the  orators,  as  "  spit  it  out 
again." 

The  name  of  Andrew  G.  Curtin  was  withdrawn 
after  the  first  ballot. 

THE    SECOND    BALLOT. 

The  call  of  states  for  the  second  ballot  was  at 
length  commenced  by  the  clerk,  Mr.  McClane.  It 
proceeded  to  the  noisy  accompaniment  of  rebel 
yells  and  discordant  shouts  in  all  keys. 

California  cast  her  vote  thus :  "  Six  votes  for 
honest  David  Davis." 

A  voice  sneeringly  called  out  "Honest  David 
Davis — Oh,  yes!"  at  which  there  was  general 
laughter. 

New  Jersey  cast  her  thirteen  votes  for  the 
"  friend  of  humanity."  A  parenthetic  voice,  desir 
ing  to  know  who  the  universal  friend  might  be, 
was  answered,  "  Horace  Greeley."  The  remainder 
of  the  votes  of  New  Jersey  were  cast  for  another 
candidate. 

With  great  effort  the  chairman  brought  sufficient 
order  out  of  the  chaos  to  permit  the  result  of  the 
second  ballot  to  be  heard.  It  stood  : 

STATES.                                                                      Adams.  Trumbull.  Davis.     Greeley. 

Alabama _             __  ..  18 

Arkansas 2             ..  ..  10 

California  . .  66 


392  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

STATES.                                                                 ADAMS.     TRUMBULL.     DAVIS.  GREELEY. 

Connecticut 12  .... 

Delaware. . --  6 

Florida - 6 

Georgia. - 2  18 

Illinois.. 21  21 

Indiana... ---                        9  16  2  I 

Iowa 10  5  i  6 

Kansas 10 

Kentucky --- -     19  5 

Louisiana —       4  &  2 

Maine . . I4 

Maryland. 2  3  10  I 

Massachusetts 22  4 

Michigan - 22 

Minnesota --  9  4 

Mississippi --  8  __  8 

Missouri 4  l6  IO 

Nebraska - 5  ._  I 

Nevada.. -     --  --  --  6 

New  Hampshire _ ..  _.  8 

New  Jersey 5  ..  ..  13 

New  York 2  I  ..  65 

North   Carolina. 9  3  8 

Ohio 42  _.  ._  2 

Oregon ...- _.  ._  ._  6 

Pennsylvania 26  ..  n  18 

Rhode  Island 8 

South  Carolina.. ._     ._  2  12 

Tennessee n  9  i  i 

Texas 3  ..  ..  13 

Vermont I  ..  __  7 

Virginia 2  14  24 

West  Virginia _ 6  ..  3  I 

Wisconsin 15  2  2  r 

Total 243  148  75  245 

Brown,  2  ;  Chase,  i. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast,  714  ;  necessary  to  a  choice,  355^ 
Before  the  vote  was  announced,  California  changed  six  votes  from  Davis 
to  Greeley. 

On  the    third  ballot    the  totals  were  but  little 
changed,    standing:    Adams,* 246;    Trumbull,"ri46; 

Greeley,    258 ;     Davis,    44.      On    the  fourth  they 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION. 


393 


vtood:    Adams,  279 
Davis,  41. 


;  Trumbull,  141;  Greeley,  251; 

FIFTH    BALLOT. 


States.  ADAMS.     TRUMBULL.     DAVIS.     GREELEY. 

Alabama..  ............................  _.  18 

Arkansas  ___  ..........  ______  .........       2  10 

California  .....  ______  ...........  _____      _.  _.  12 

Connecticut..  .........  _____  .....  ____     12 

Delaware  _______  ......  _____  .........       6 

Florida  ............................  .       6 

Georgia.  .............  ____  .....  ______       2  18 

Illinois  ____  ...........................  21  21 

Indiana  _____  ..................  .  .....     II  7  ..  10 

Iowa  .........  .  ................  _____     16  -.  _.  6 

Kansas..  .......  .  .............  _____     10 

Kentucky  ...........................     19  ..  .  5 

Louisiana  ..........................  _       5  3  ..  6 

Maine  ______  ......  ...................     14 

Maryland  .......  ____  ................     12  4 

Massachusetts  ..................  _____     22  4 

Michigan  ......................  -----     22 

Minnesota  ...........  .  ...............  -  9  I 

Mississippi  ..........................       5  3  8 

Missouri.  ...........................       4  18 

Nebraska  ............  .  ................  6 

Nevada  ............................  6 

New  Hampshire  ...................... 

New  Jersey  ........................  -       5  *3 

New  York  ................  .  .........       5  J  62 

North  Carolina  _____  .................       5  7  3  5 

Ohio...  ............................     42  --  2 

Oregon  ____  ...........................  --  6 

Pennsylvania  ........................     32  I  4  18 

Rhode  Island..  .......  .  ............  ..       8 

South  Carolina  .  ....................... 

Tennessee  .................  _  .........     12  9  i 

Texas  ..............................       3  13 

Vermont  .....  _  ...............  .  ......       4  4 

Virginia  ___  _____  _____________  ________       I  4 

West  Virginia  ......................  .       6  I  3 

Wisconsin  ____  .............  .  ........     18  2 

Total  _________  ........  .  ......     309  91  30  258 

Brown  —  Georgia,  2. 

Chase  —  Pennsylvania,!  ;  South  Carolina,  14;  Virginia,  9.     Total,  24. 


394  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 


SIXTH  BALLOT  AND  NOMINATION. 

STATES.                                                               ADAMS.  TRUMBULL.    DAVIS.     GREELEY 

Alabama . __  __  ..  18 

Arkansas _ _       2  ..  __  10 

California _      __  ..  _.  12 

Connecticut 12 

Delaware _ 6 

Florida 

Georgia ..  __  22 

Illinois _     27  I  _.  14 

Indiana 8  _„  __  19 

Iowa _     17  ..  _.  5 

Kansas. ._       5  2  __  3 

Kentucky 5  _.  __  19 

Louisiana •. 7  ._  __  7 

Maine 14 

Maryland _.      II  2  ..  3 

Massachusetts 22 

Michigan 20  __  __  2 

Minnesota  _ 9  I 

Mississippi _       8  ..  ._  8 

Missouri 10  2  _.  18 

Nebraska. -_  6 

Nevada ..  --  ._  6 

New  Hampshire _ ..  -_  8 

New  Jersey 5  .-  _-  13 

New  York 5  I  ..  62 

North  Carolina. 3  --  _-  17 

Ohio .-     42  ..  __  2 

Oregon --  -  -  --  6 

Pennsylvania 32  I  4  17 

Rhode  Island 8 

South  Carolina  _. --  2 

Tennessee.. --       93  IO 

Texas 3  --  *3 

Vermont I  7 

Virginia 8  ..  __  7 

West  Virginia i  --  I  7 

Wisconsin 18  .-  2 

Total 309  2I  6  346 

Brown — Pennsylvania,  I. 

Chase— Florida,  6  ;  Massachusetts,  4  ;   Pennsylvania,  I  ;  South  Carolina, 
12  ;  Virginia,  7. 

Palmer — Indiana,  I. 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  395 

The  influence  of  Schurz  upon  the  Missouri  dele 
gation  was  shown  by  its  vote  in  the  second  ballot  — 
sixteen  for  Trumbull,  ten  for  Greeley.  The  vote 
for  Greeley  gradually  increased  until  in  the  last 
two  ballots  it  reached  18  ;  the  remainder  casting 
their  votes  persistently  for  Adams.  During  one  of 
the  most  exciting  scenes  of  the  balloting,  a  Missouri 
delegate  uttered  the  pithy  sentence  already  become 
historical, — "  Sold,  but  not  delivered."  When  the 
state  vote  was  made  up  on  the  occasion  of  each 
ballot,  it  was  always  with  bickering  and  bitterness 
apparent  to  the  entire  convention. 

The  second  and  third  ballots  were  completed 
without  the  occurrence  of  anything  notable. 
There  were  occasional  spasms  of  excitement,  which 
yielded  to  comparative  order. 

The  fourth  ballot  showed  a  small  gain  for 
Adams,  and  a  diminution  in  the  votes  for  Greeley. 
The  friends  of  Adams  were  jubilant.  Davis's  vote 
steadily  diminished  from  the  first  ballot. 

WHAT    MIGHT    HAVE    BEEN. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  ballot,  Illinois  might 
have  nominated  Adams  by  changing  her  vote  to 
him  unanimously.  Her  own  vote  alone  would 
have  accomplished  the  result,  but  the  moral  effect 
of  the  transfer  would  have  been  further  accessions 
of  strength.  The  friends  of  Davis  changed  to 
Greeley  in  the  successive  ballotings,  or.  scattered 
on  impossible  candidates.  Trumbull's  strength 
diminished  to  ninety-one  on  the  fifth  ballot.  At 
this  time  the  end  was  apparent. 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

The  states  were  called  on  the  sixth  ballot,  amid 
unprecedented  confusion.  The  chair  tried  to  pre 
serve  the  semblance  of  order  with  a  useless  ex 
penditure  of  strength  on  the  gavel.  A  motion  to 
take  a  recess  of  twenty  minutes  was  badly  de 
feated.  The  aisles  were  full  of  excited  delegates 
and  others.  Men  were  everywhere  talking  excit 
edly,  mounted  upon  benches,  and  standing  on 
chairs.  Speeches  were  being  made  in  all  parts  of 
the  hall  at  the  same  moment.  Illinois  retired  for 
consultation,  and  returned  with  the  vote  divided 
between  Adams  and  Greeley ;  Trumbull  having  a 
solitary  retainer.  The  announcement  was  received 
with  derisive  laughter. 

New  Jersey,  rich  in  benevolent  nomenclature, 
cast  her  vote  on  the  last  ballot  for  "the  Philoso 
pher,  Horace  Greeley." 

The  sixth  ballot,  as  tabulated  above,  shows  the 
result  before  the  final  change  that  nominated 
Greeley.  Pennsylvania  was  the  first  to  change 
when  the  crisis  arrived,  going  solidly  for  the 
high  tariff  reformer.  The  announcement  of  this 
change,  by  Col.  McClure,  was  received  with  extra 
ordinary  enthusiasm.  Kentucky  changed  next, 
then  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Mississippi,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  other  states.  The  exact  result  will  prob 
ably  never  be  known,  but  the  majority  was  over 
whelming  for  Horace  Greeley. 

When  it  became  apparent  to  the  convention  that 
Greeley  would  be  the  nominee,  there  was  great 
enthusiasm  in  certain  quarters,  and  an  extraordin- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION. 

^  ary  lack  of  it  in  others.  The  local  sympathy  was 
with  Adams,  therefore  the  gallery  was  ominously 
silent. 

When  the  nomination  was  announced  from  the 
chair,  not  a  handkerchief  was  lifted,  and  not  a 
cheer  heard  from  the  balcony.  The  cheering  on  the 
floor  was  principally  confined  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  Southern  "delegations;"  Ohio,  and  the  extreme 
Eastern  members  not  participating.  After  a  brief 
interval  for  thought,  consciousness  of  what  <  they 
had  done  seemed  to  fill  the  convention  with  amaze 
ment.  The  friends  of  Adams  and  Trumbull  were 
the  most  aggrieved.  They  seemed  stunned  and 
blinded  by  their  sudden  downfall.  Some  of  them 
were  so  staggered  that  they  were  obliged  to  seek 
the  nearest  means  of  physical  support.  Like  the 
lady  collegian,  in  the  "  Princess,"  they  "  stared  with 
great  eyes,  and  laughed  with  alien  lips." 

FOR    VICE    PRESIDENT. 

The  balloting  for  Vice  President  was  tame  after 
this  scene  of  excitement.  The  names  of  Trumbull, 
Cox,  Cassius  M.  Clay,  and  Palmer  were  successively 
withdrawn.  It  is  possible  that  Trumbull  might 
have  won  the  second  place  on  the  ticket  had  he 
desired  it.  Hon.  John  Hickman,  of  Pennsylvania, 
moved  the  nomination  of  Gratz  Brown  by  accla 
mation,  both  before  and  after  the  first  ballot. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  the  first  ballot : 
Whole  number  of  votes  cast,  702  ;  necessary  to  a 
choice,  $52;  B.  Gratz  Brown  received,  i&7  ;  Lyman 


400  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    'J2. 

Trumbull  received  156;  George  W.Julian  received 
134^  ;  Cassius  M.  Clay,  44. 

The  Chair  announced  the  second  ballot  in  the 
following  terms :  Whole  number  of  votes,  647 ; 
necessary  to  a  choice,  349;  Brown  received  435; 
Walker,  75  ,  Palmer,  8 ;  Julian,  75  ;  Tipton,  3. 

A  motion  to  make  the  nomination  unanimous 
was  greeted  with  a  storm  of  indignant  "noes." 

Brown  was  called  upon  for  a  speech,  but  was 
found  to  have  left  the  hall. 

The  National  Executive  Committee  of  the  new 
party  was  formally  appointed.  The  following  are 
the  names  of  its  members : 

South  Carolina,  S.  A.  Pierce  -•  Texas,  E.  M.  Pease  ;  West  Virginia,  Hon. 
M.  C.  Church ;  District  of  Columbia,  C.  M.  Alexander ,  Maine,  J.  L.  Le- 
ford  ,  Nevada,  George  C.  Lyon  ;  Ohio,  J.  T.  Brooks  ;  North  Carolina,  L.  R. 
Goodloe  ;  Montana,  J.  C.  Everts  ,  Pennsylvania,  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Raddiman  ; 
Louisiana,  H.  C.  Warmoth  ,  Minnesota,  Thomas  Wilson  ;  Arkansas,  John 
Kirkwood  ;  New  Hampshire,  Henry  O.  Kent ;  Iowa,  James  D.  Campbell ; 
Florida,  J.  C.  Drew ,  New  Jersey,  James  M.  Scovill ;  Colorado,  S.  C.  Brown  ; 
New  York,  Ethan  Allen  ;  California,  Frank  M.  Pixley ;  Maryland,  Samuel 
M.  Gouverneur  ,  Connecticut,  David  Clark  ,  Indiana,  Isaac  T.  Gray  ;  Ten 
nessee,  J.  S.  Fowler;  Nebraska,  T.  W.  Tipton;  Kansas,  S.  A.  Biggs';  Illi 
nois,  L.  Swett ;  Kentucky,  L.  N.  Dembitz  ;  Wisconsin,  A.  Scott  Sloan  ; 
Vermont,  John  P.  Ladd  ;  Massachusetts,  Charles  G.  Davis  ;  Oregon,  Jasper 
W.  Johnson  ;  Alabama,  W.  T.  Hatchett  ;  Mississippi,  E.  Jeffords  ;  Delaware, 
George  Alfred  Townsend  ;  Missouri,  Geo.  W.  Anderson  ;  Michigan,  George 
L.  R.  McWhorter ;  Rhode  Island,  E.  Corbett. 

During  the  final  proceedings  the  spectators  had 
been  leaving,  and  few  even  of  the  delegates  were 
in  their  places. 

Mr.  Schurz,  being  repeatedly  called  upon  for  a 
final  speech,  said  with  evident  unwillingness,  and 
with  obvious  hesitation  of  manner : 

"This  convention  has  overwhelmed  me  with  kindness,  and  I  have  especially 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  401 

to  thank  them  for  the  indulgence  with  which  they  have  borne  with  me  while 
I  was  endeavoring,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  conduct,  with  fairness  and 
impartiality,  the  deliberations  of  this  large  and — let  us  confess  it — sometimes 
a  little  unruly  body.     [Applause  and  laughter.] 

"We  have  now  completed  our  work.  It  will  now  be  our  duty  to  proclaim 
to  all  the  land  the  principles  we  have  embodied  in  our  platform,  and  to  go 
forward  and  solicit,  with  a.U  the  entreaties  which  our  minds  and  hearts  are 
capable  of  making,  the  support  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the 
candidates  we  have  nominated. 

"I  have  already  done  so  much  speaking  in  this  convention,  and  may  be  I 
shall  still  have  to  do  so  much  during  the  impending  campaign,  that  you  will 
certainly  bear  with  me  if  I  close  my  last  speech  in  the  same  manner  in 
which  I  closed  my  first,  when  seconding  a  motion  to  adjourn,  and  now  de 
clare  the  Liberal  Republican  Convention  adjourned  sine  die" 

Mr.  Julian  was  called  upon  to  speak,  but  declined 
on  the  ground  of  ill  health.  Theodore  Tilton  and 
Cassius  M.  Clay  were  also  called  for,  but  did  not 
respond,  and  the  remains  of  the  immense  crowd  dis 
persed. 

The  executive  committee  met  in  the  evening, 
and  elected  as  permanent  officers  Ethan  Allen,  of 
New  York,  (no  relation  of  the  Revolutionary  hero) 
Chairman,  and  Daniel  R.  Goodloe,  of  North  Caro 
lina,  Secretary. 

The  aspect  of  Cincinnati  was  almost  funereal 
after  the  convention.  Everything  was  gloom  and 
uncertainty.  Few  were  hopeful  enough  to  think 
that  the  Liberal  party  could  elect  the  ticket  nom 
inated,  and  all  were  disgusted  at  the  shameful 
trickery  by  which  the  result  had  been  reached. 
Judges  Stallo,  Matthews  and  Hoadley,  the  two 
Brinkerhoffs,  and  others,  were  understood  to  have 
left  the  convention  before  adjournment,  utterly 
repudiating  its  acts  and  filled  with  mortification. 


4O2  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

Some  of  the  Indiana  delegates  were  said  to  have 
left  when  Brown  made  his  speech  of  bargain  and 
sale.  All  the  local  talk  upon  the  streets  was  bitter 
and  acrimonious.  Everywhere  the  greatest  con 
tempt  was  felt  for  the  nominees,  and  the  deepest 
anger  mingled  with  sorrow  at  the  action  of  the 
convention.  For  several  hours  it  seemed  as  if  the 
ticket  would  find  no  supporters  of  influence  in  the 
West 

THE    GERMANS. 

The  Germans  were  most  of  all  vexed  and  turbu 
lent.  They  declared  that  they  would  not  support 
Greeley  under  any  circumstances.  The  local  Ger 
man  papers  were  unanimous  in  their  opposition. 
Carl  Daenzler,  editor  of  the  Anzeiger  des  Westen, 
published  at  St.  Louis,  telegraphed  to  his  editor  in 
charge  the  following : 

"The  corruptionists,  under  the  lead  of  Blair  and  Brown,  have  carried  the 
day.  It  was  a  regular  bargain  and  sale,  in  which  Missouri  spoil  hunters  and 
adventurers  from  other  States,  self-styled  delegates,  have  played  a  prominent 
part.  The  liberal  German  element  is  unanimously  opposed  to  the  nomina 
tions  ;  and  the  Anzeiger  will  fight  them  to  the  bitter  end.  Bolt  the  nomina 
tions  at  once,  and  as  energetically  as  you  can,  and  publish  this  over  my  own 
signature." 

It  was  thought  on  the  night  succeeding  the  nom 
ination  that  not  a  single  German  newspaper 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  could 
be  induced  to  support  Greeley,  for  reasons  well 
expressed  in  Carl  Schurz's  speech  to  the  Missouri 
delegation ;  and  the  surmise  has  been  almost  veri 
fied. 

The  Reunion    and    Reform    convention,   which 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  403 

had  been  sitting  simultaneously  to  the  main  con 
vention,  and  as  an  auxiliary  of  that  body,  broke  up, 
demoralized  and  disgusted,  and  nothing  has  since 
been  heard  of  Judge  Stallo  and  its  other  influen 
tial  members,  mostly  Germans,  except  in  denunci 
ation  of  the  results  of  the  convention.  The 
speeches  with  which  the  nominations  were  immedi 
ately  received  by  the  Reunited  Reformers  were 
very  violent. 

SECESSION    OF    THE    OHIO    DELEGATION. 

The  Liberal  Convention  had  proved  to  the 
Ohio  delegation  a  dead  sea  apple, — dust  and  ashes 
to  the  core.  While  the  balloting  was  progressing, 
and  when  Greeley's  chances  looked  exceedingly 
favorable,  a  meeting  was  appointed,  to  occur  soon 
after  the  convention  completed  its  labors.  The 
delegation  assembled  at  College  Hall,  at  four 
o'clock,  with  a  tolerable  full  attendance.  Very 
bitter  speeches  were  made  by  Judge  Spaulding,  Gen. 
Burnett,  Judge  Brinkerhoff,  Judge  Hoadley  and 
others.  The  last  named  gentleman  said  he  was 
authorized  to  speak  for  Judge  Matthews,  John  W. 
Sohn,  and  the  United  German  delegation.  His 
language  was,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"  I  have  heretofore  expressed  the  opinion  that  we  have  to-day  seen  the 
candidates  of  an  organized  fraud  put  on  a  platform  which  we  believe  to  be 
an  honest  and  fair  one.  The  administration  of  Greeley  and  Brown  would 
be  the  most  corrupt  with  which  this  country  was  ever  afflicted.  It  would 
be  carried  on  by  a  new  Tammany  Ring.  We  may  not  succeed  in  defeating 
their  nominations,  but  we  are  after  them,  and  if  they  get  elected  we  will  at 
least  help  to  knife  them  in  the  midst  of  their  villanies.  They  are  a  pair  of 
scoundrels — of  infernal  scoundrels.  I  am  after  them  now,  and  intend  to  be 
after  them  till  next  November,  and  I  shall  vote  and  work  for  Grant  to  help 


404  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

defeat  these  thieves.  Others  who  have  been  called  away  to  their  homes  in 
the  country  think  and  speak  just  as  I  do.  We  need  take  no  formal  action 
here.  The  reporters  are  present,  and  the  doings  of  this  meeting  will  go  out 
to  the  world.  I  am  glad  of  it.  The  more  public  it  is  made  the  better.  We 
must,  however,  keep  up  an  organization  and  be  ready  for  future  action.  We 
have  many  good  men  on  our  rolls,  and  we  will  yet  make  our  power  felt.  We 
were  only  a  little  too  late  or  we  should  have  had  no  John  Sherman  to  mis 
represent  us  in  the  United  States  Senate.  We  will  accomplish  good  results 
in  this  State,  and  shall  eventually  triumph  in  the  Nation." 

The  meeting  adjourned  without  stated  action, 

THE    NEWSPAPER    SYNDICATE. 

The  action  of  the  principal  newspaper  men 
present  at  the  convention  has  been  given  consider 
able  prominence  since  the  convention.  This  has 
not  been  without  reason.  But  for  their  opposition 
to  the  administration  of  Grant,  the  convention 
would  never  have  been.  The  Cincinnati  Com- 
mercial\&A.  been  pronounced  for  Adams,  and  worked 
up  the  feeling  day  after  day  with  skill  and  energy. 
To  the  last  moment  Mr.  Halstead  was  confident  of 
success.  His  most  active  co-worker  in  the  Adams 
cause  was  Samuel  Bowles,  of  the  Springfield  Re 
publican.  Bowles  was  to  be  seen  at  the  Com 
mercial  office  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night. 
Godkin,  of  the  Nation,  was  in  favor  of  Adams,  and 
from  the  first  intolerant  of  any  other  candidate. 
Horace  White  preferred  Trumbull,  in  whose  in 
terest  he  was  all  the  while  quietly  laboring,  but 
would  have  accepted  any  available  candidate. 
Henry  Watterson,  of  the  Louisville  Courier- Jour 
nal,  had  from  the  first  advocated  the  claims  of 
Adams,  although  without  acrimony. 

All  of  these  gentlemen  were  intensely  mortified 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  405 

at  the  result.  For  some  hours  after  the  nomina 
tion  of  Greeley  was  precipitated,  these  men  were 
in  doubt  whether  they  would  or  would  not  bolt  the 
nominations.  As  night  drew  on,  there  were  in  some 
of  them  faint  signs  of  adhesion.  The  name  of 
Horace  White  was  appended  to  the  plat 
form.  He  was,  therefore,  bound  to  the  cause  with 
hooks  of  steel.  He  seemed  in  honor  compelled  to 
adhere  to  its  decision.  His  journalistic  confreres 
were  not  so  inextricably  bound  in  the  tangled  mesh 
of  Liberalism. 

In  the  evening,  there  was  a  supper  of  delicate 
edibles,  at  the  Saint  Nicholas,  about  which  the  five 
gentlemen  named  gathered  for  the  discussion  of 
results,  and  the  formation  of  plans.  The  topics 
were  as  distasteful  as  the  supper  was  savory. 
Whitelaw  Reid,  first  lieutenant  of  Greeley's  paper, 
is  said  to  have  been  an  invited  guest.  Over  the 
viands  the  disappointments,  the  hopes,  the  fears, 
the  anticipations  of  each  were  expressed  with  free 
dom.  The  result  was  that  all  but  Godkin  and 
Halstead  promised  to  support  the  ticket  cordially, 
but  to  censure  the  manner  in  which  the  nomina 
tions  were  brought  about.  How  they  did  so  will 
be  inferred  from  following  extracts  of  their  utter 
ances  : 

Bowles  told  in  the  Springfield  Republican  of  Sat 
urday  what  had  happened  on  Friday,  as  follows : 

"Frank  Blair  became  alarmed  at  the  growing  prospect  of  Adams'  nomina 
tion,  in  which  he  and  his  family  naturally  had  no  sympathy,  and  brought  over 
Gratz  Brown  from  St.  Louis  last  night,  to  undertake  its  defeat.  How  they 
did  it  the  record  shows.  Brown  withdrew  in  favor  of  Greeley  ;  and  though 

24 


406  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

at  first  the  move  seemed  likely  to  prove  a  failure,  the  slowness  of  the  friends 
of  Trumbull  to  appreciate  the  danger  and  act  aggressively  against  it,  allowed 
it  to  aggregate  strength,  arouse  the  friendly  heart  of  the  convention  for  Gree- 
ley,  and  give  him  a  brilliant  victory.  The  logic  and  the  judgment  of  the 
convention  were  for  Adams — not  its  enthusiasm.  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  Greeley's  wisest  freinds  then  tried  to  change  the  plan  of  the  architects 
of  this  result  or  giving  the  Vice-  Presidency  to  Gratz  Brown.  They  saw  how 
much  this  would  look  like  a  bargain,  and  they  greatly  felt  the  personal  ob 
jection  to  Mr.  Brown.  But  in  the  demoralized  arid  flabby  state  of  feeling  in 
the  convention,  it  was  impossible  to  concentrate  the  votes  of  his  opponents 
on  any  one  acceptable.  Mr.  Julian  would  have  been  especially  agreeable  to 
Mr.  Greeley ;  but  the  convention  was  impatient  and  hungry  ;  many  didn't 
care  what  happened  ;  Mr.  Trumbull's  and  Mr.  Cox's  friends  refused  to  allow 
those  gentlemen  to  be  pressed  for  the  second  place  }  Brown  had  many  earnest 
personal  friends  at  work  for  him  ;  the  thoughtless  among  Mr.  Greeley's 
friends  were  grateful  to  him  ;  and  so  the  little  sinful  game  of  Frank  Blair 
was  played  out  successfully  to  the  end. 

"The  blow  falls  very  heavily  upon  the  free  traders  of  the  West.  They 
were  the  originators  of  this  reform  movement ;  to  them  it  meant,  almost  first 
of  all,  tariff  reform,  and  they  struggled  long  and  earnestly  to  put  their  ideas 
on  this  aubject  in  the  front.  t  But  partly  by  the  betrayal  of  a  portion  of  their 
Missouri  associates  ;  partly  by  their  own  over-persistence  in  the  verbal  strug 
gle  for  the  platform  on  the  question,  they  have  lost  everything.  The  tariff 
resolution  is  practically,  and  almost  in  words,  Greeley's  compromise,  and  the 
candidate  is  the  one  man  in  all  the  country  who  believes  most  sincerely  in 
protection,  and  fights  its  battle  most  ably." 

Horace  White,  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  the 
chief  of  these  free  traders,  expressed  his  grief  in 
the  following  terms  : 

"The  Gratz  Brown  performance  has  given  the  whole  affair  the  appearance 
of  a  put-up  job,  but  it  was  merely  a  lucky  guess.  The  Blairs  and  Browns 
do  not  like  Schurz.  To  defeat  a  candidate  who  was  likely  to  be  on  confiden 
tial  terms'  with  Schurz,  as  either  Adams  or  Trumbull  would  have  been,  was 
the  thing  nearest  to  their  hearts,  and  for  this  purpose  Brown  made  his  appear 
ance  here.  His  speech  in  the  convention  fell  like  dishwater  on  the  whole 
assemblage. 

********* 

"Then  gush  and  hurrah  swept  everything  down,  and  almost  before  the  vote 
of  Illinois  had  been  recorded  by  the  Secretary,  the  dispatches  came  rushing 
to  the  telegraph  instruments  that  Greeley  was  nominated.  For  a  moment 
the  wiser  heads  in  the  convention  were  stunned,  though  everybody  tried  to 
look  perfectly  contented.  Of  all  the  things  that  could  possibly  happen,  this 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  407 

was  the  one  thing  which  everybody  supposed  could  not  happen.  Not  even 
the  Greeley  men  themselves  thought  it  could  happen.  The  only  able  politi 
cian  who  seemed  to  be  really  for  Greeley,  was  Waldo  Hutchins,  of  New  York, 
and  even  his  sincerity  was  questioned  by  Greeley's  back-bone  friends  as  long 
as  the  Davis  movement  was  regarded  as  still  alive." 

"The  politicians,  for  the  most  part,  either  left  the  convention,  to  bathe 
their  heads,  or  sat  still,  as  idle  and  indifferent  spectators.  It  was  freely 
charged  and  believed  that  the  nomination  of  Greeley  was  a  put-up  job  of 
Brown's,  and  so  delighted  were  the  innocents  at  the  success  of  the  supposed 
scheme,  that  they  hastened  to  ratify  it. 

After  the  convention  adjourned,  the  streets  were  filled  with  a  Babel  of  the 
most  sorely  puzzled  individuals  that  the  world  has  ever  seen." 

From  the  morning  on  which  this  dispatch  was 
published  the  Tribune  never  mentioned  the  name 
of  Gratz  Brown  editorially,  except  in  a  manner 
merely  incidental.  The  Cincinnati  Volksblatt,  the 
ablest  of  the  German  papers  which  had  inclined  to 
Liberalism,  received  the  result  with  ineffable  dis 
gust.  It  said,  on  the  following  morning: 

"The  Liberal  Convention  has  thrown  away  the  opportunity  it  had.  We 
regret  this,  not  merely  on  account  of  the  forfeited  success,  but  on  account  of 
the  bungled  management  of  the  movement.  In  a  contest  for  correct  princi 
ples,  and  conducted  by  a  real  representative  of  the  same,  we  could,  if  need 
be,  have  even  submitted  to  a  defeat.  It  is  nothing  new  to  us  to  struggle  with 
minorities.  The  old  Freesoil,  afterwards  Republican,  party,  was  originally 
a  minority  party.  But  it  was  a  minority  party  which  had  to  become  a  major 
ity  party,  because  it  had  Truth  and  Justice  on  its  side.  We  cannot  say  the 
same  thing  of  a  Greeley  party." 

How  the  Reformers  were  put  to  ignominous 
route  on  their  main  issue — the  Tariff — is  thus  told 
by  Mr.  Bowles,  a  member  of  the  syndicate  and  the 
best  possible  authority  on  this  subject : 

"  But  here  we  must  consider  how  these  people  threw  away  their  first  and 
great  opportunity.  So  soon  as  the  delegates  began  to  assemble  on  Saturday, 
the  agitation  of  the  tariff  question  commenced.  Through  Monday,  Tuesday 
and  Wednesday,  there  was,  as  it  were,  a  protracted  meeting  for  discussion 
and  consultation  upon  this  subject.  It  threatened  at  one  time  to  disrupt  the 
convention.  But  it  soon  grew  obvious  that  the  great  majority  of  the  revenue 


408  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

reformers  themselves  were  indisposed  to  insist  upon  a  radical  declaration  for 
free  trade.  It  was  clearly  felt  that  the  reform  movement  had  passed  beyond 
this  special  question,  had  reached  to  new  elements  of  power,  who  held  an 
tagonistic  views  as  to  the  tariff,  and  that  the  question  of  general  reform,  of  a 
higher  tone  in  the  administration,  of  a  more  generous  policy  toward  the 
South,  of  a  burial  of  past  issues,  and  the  revolution  and  reconstruction  of 
parties,  were  the  more  pressing  and  absorbing  points  of  the  movement.  But 
a  few  of  the  revenue  tariff  doctrinaires — such  men  as  Mr.  Atkinson,  of  Bos 
ton,  and  Judge  'Hoadley  and  Stanley  Matthews,  of  Cincinnati — would  not 
yield  their  faith  to  these  considerations.  This  was  the  corner-stone  of  their 
politics  ;  it  had  grown  in  their  minds  to  the  first  place  in  all  reform  ;  they 
felt  that  it  would  be  disgrace  and  treason  to  yield  it  up,  and  they  insisted 
upon  it  beyond  the  patience  almost  of  their  associates — certainly  beyond  the 
patience  of  the  great  body  of  the  convention.  Had  they  seen  what  such 
men  as  Horace  White  and  David  A.  Wells  saw,  what  independent  outsiders 
saw  and  warned  them  of,  and  had  they  come  frankly  forward  on  Tuesday  or 
Wednesday,  or  even  on  Thursday  morning,  and  said  to  Mr.  Greeley's  friends 
and  the  Pennsylvania  delegates — "  We  will  yield  this  difference,  we  will  ac 
cept  the  relegation  of  this  disputed  question  to  the  congressional  elections, 
and  agree  with  you  to  its  decision  by  congressional  votes  ;  but  in  view  of  the 
history  of  this  movement,  and  in  return  for  this  concession,  you  must  take  a 
candidate  from  among  our  representative  men — you  must  take  Mr.  Adams, 
or  Mr.  Trumbull,  or  Mr.  Cox,  or  Mr.  Brown" — doubtless  the  offer  would 
have  been  accepted,  and  platform  and  candidate  would  have  grown  out  of  an 
honorable  compromise.  But  they  fought  the  platform  against  fate.  They 
urged,  first,  positive  declarations  for  free  trade  or  revenue  reform  ;  next,  they 
sought  to  juggle  the  question  with  fine  words  ;  and  they  only  yielded  the 
only  honorable  compromise,  when  they  had  lost  the  good-will  of  the  con 
vention,  and  lost  the  opportunity  to  make  terms  on  the  ticket." 

SCHURZ  SOOTHES  HIS  SORROW  WITH  A  SYMPHONY. 

We  make  room  for  one  other  extract  from  Mr. 
Bowles's  letter,  narrating  how  the  man  of  the  best 
ability,  clearest  view  and  most  sincere  purpose 
among  them,  vented  his  disgust  after  the  crash  and 
chaos  came: 

"The  conduct  of  Governor  Brown  and  its  resultant  nomination  of  Mr. 
Greeley  were  indeed  a  sad  surprise  and  serious  blow  to  Carl  Schurz.  Pledg 
ing  in  faltering  voice  his  support  of  the  nomination  to  the  convention,  he  left 
it,  weary  with  labor  and  sad  in  spirit,  for  the  house  of  his  friend,  Judge  Stallo- 
Entering  there  a  circle  of  equally  disappointed  friends,  he  said :  'I  am  over- 


THE    CINCINNATI    CONVENTION.  409 

whelmed  and  discouraged.'  There  were  no  words  of  consolation  or  cheer  to 
offer  him,  and  a  sad  silence  reigned  for  a  few  moments.  Then  he  turned  to 
the  piano,  and  with  his  master  hand  poured  out  his  feeling  through  one  of 
Auber's  most  touching  compositions.  It  seemed  as  if  the  composer's  thought 
had  never  been  so  fitly  rendered  before,  and  tears  filled  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
company.  But  in  a  more  noble  way  than  he  was  wounded  will  the  country 
revenge  Carl  Schurz.  His  high  and  generous  course  at  this  convention  and 
his  noble  address  to  it  won  him  the  added  respect  of  both  friend  and  foe. 
Never  did  he  stand  so  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  American  people  as  at 
this  moment,  and  he  well  deserves  the  compliment  which  Charles  Francis 
Adams  paid  to  him  more  than  a  year  ago,  in  saying,  'that  the  one  man  who 
seemed  to  understand  our  institutions,  their  spirit,  their  history,  their  dan 
gers  and  their  possibilities,  better  than  any  other  citizen,  was  of  foreign  birth, 
and  his  name,  CARL  SCHURZ.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
HORACE    GREELEY. 

Birth  of  the  Hero — His  Youthful  Experiences — A  Statesman  in  Leading 
Strings — Almost  Drowned — The  Mystery  of  Ox-yoking  too  Great  for 
Him — Apprenticed  to  a  Printer — Migrates  to  New  York — Makes  an  Im 
pression  upon  a  Boss  Printer — Begins  to  Develop  his  Eccentricities — His 
Grahamite  Experience — An  Eating  Exploit  not  Down  in  Graham's  Bill 
of  Fare — Divers  Instructive  Anecdotes — Rise  of  the  "  Tribune" — Greeley's 
Characteristics  as  a  Journalist — What  Horace  White  Said  of  Him — Gree- 
ley  Travels — His  Imprisonment  at  Paris — His  Terrible  Ride  to  Placerville. 

It  seems  almost  foolhardy  to  commence  at  this 
stage  of  our  book  the  biography  of  a  man  of  such 
multiplex  characteristics,  and  of  such  a  public  rec 
ord  as  belong  to  Horace  Greeley — the  man  whose 
name  is  better  celebrated  than  that  of  perhaps  any 
other  American  ;  the  man  who  has  been  most  inti 
mately  concerned  in  nearly  half  a  century  of  New 
York  and  national  politics ;  who  has  written  a 
dozen  ponderous  volumes  and  uncollected  matter 
enough  to  fill  ten  times  as  many ;  who  has  been 
on  both  extremes  of  nearly  every  important  public 
question,  and  received  alternately  the  encomiums 
and  the  curses  of  every  free-speaking  American 
citizen  ;  who  may  truthfully  be  said  to  have  brought 
on  the  late  civil  war,  insisted  upon  conducting  it 
both  politically  and  militarily,  nearly  brought  it  to 

(410) 


HORACE    GREELEY.  4!  I 

a  disgraceful  close  more  than  once  during  its  pro 
gress,  and  finally  officiated  as  its  most  popular  his 
torian.  It  is  plain  that  to  crowd  the  events  and  the 
lessons  of  such  an  active  and  instructive  life  into 
the  space  now  at  command  will  be  great  violence 
to  the  subject — yet  it  has  to  be  done  ;  and  any  who 
may  be  disposed  to  grieve  over  the  brevity  of  Mr. 
Greeley's  "  life,"  as  herein  contained,  must  console 
himself  with  reflecting  that  Greeley's  friend,  Mr. 
Parton — most  charming  of  biographic  whitewash- 
ers — has  furnished  to  the  world  a  history  of  this 
famous  man's  life,  only  less  fascinating  than  the 
same  biographer's  panegyric  of  Aaron  Burr,  or  of 
Benj.  F.  Butler — a  history,  too,  which  the  present 
writer  has  perused  too  well  to  contentedly  forego  a 
frequent  reference  to  its  pages  in  the  preparation 
of  this  sketch. 

BORN. 

Horace  Greeley,  sometimes  called  the  Tribune 
Philosopher,  sometimes  the  Sage  of  Chappaqua, 
sometimes  the  Peacemaker  of  Niagara,  was  born 
on  the  3d  of  February,  1811,  and  was  therefore,  at 
the  time  of  his  nomination  for  President,  somewhat 
over  sixty-one  years  old.  Seven  cities  would  doubt 
less  have  contended  for  the  honor  of  his  birth-place, 
had  not  the  town  of  Amherst,  N.  H.,  shown  such 
incontestible  proofs  of  title  to  that  honor  as  to 
squelch  utterly  all  rivals.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
nascent  statesman  began,  even  before  he  ever 
breathed,  that  policy  of  puzzling  uncertainity  which 


412  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

has  characterized  him  since  looming  upon  the  pub 
lic  view.  Up  to  the  time  when  he  was  fifteen 
minutes  old,  Horace  had  by  no  means  made  up  his 
mind  whether  to  accept  this  world  as  a  fitting  tene 
ment  for  his  occupancy,  or  to  "  spit  upon  it"  (figur 
atively,  his  salivary  apparatus  being  not  then  well 
developed)  as  he  has  since  done  for  the  platforms 
of  his  party,  and  thus  leave  it  to  wag  on  as  best  it 
might  without  him. 

To  be  more  explicit,  it  is  related  by  his  faithful 
biographer  that  Horace,  when  first  ushered  into,— 
well,  the  reader  knows  what  is  meant,  without  re 
peating  the  trite  phrase, — was  found  to  be  a  dark 
problem  indeed ;  presenting  a  skin  of  cimmerian 
blackness  and  a  body  as  lifeless  as  that  of  the 
Democratic  party  before  it  was  galvanized  at  Cin 
cinnati.  "But  the  little  discolored  stranger  had  ar 
ticles  to  write,"  observes  Parton,  most  happily,  "and 
was  not  permitted  to  escape  his  destiny."  Through 
the  efforts  of  an  experienced  aunt,  whose  name 
richly  deserves  handing  down  to  fame,  the  incipient 
(and  we  might  almost  add,  inchoate)  philosopher 
and  Presidential  candidate  soon  began  to  breathe 
and  to  undergo  that  change  of  color  from  red  to 
black  experienced  by  a  lobster  in  boiling. 

BECOMES    A    PRODIGY. 

Being  named  Horace,  in  remembrance  of  a  rel 
ative  "on  his  father's  side,"  the  infantile  statesman 
soon  took  upon  himself  the  proper  abbreviation, 
"Hod,"  and  bore  it  triumphantly  until  manhood 


HORACE    GREELEY.  413 

arrived.  "Hod"  soon  became  the  intellectual  prod 
igy  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  It  is  re 
lated  that  he  could  read  any  ordinary  book  when 
four  years  of  age,  and  he  was  certainly  the  cham 
pion  speller  of  a  large  area  of  New  Hampshire 
territory.  At  six  he  had  already  resolved  to  be 
come  a  printer ;  and  at  fifteen  he  was  allowed  by 
his  father  to  put  this  resolution  into  practice.  The 
conversion  of  the  elder  Greeley  to  this  plan  of 
disposing  of  his  ambitious  boy  may  have  been  fa 
cilitated  by  the  fact  that,  although  "Hod"  was  an 
intellectual  prodigy,  and  could  hold  any  man  in 
town  a  tearing  discussion  on  political  economy,  he 
would  not  learn  which  was  the  "  off"  ox  and  which 
was  the  "near"  one,  and  therefore  was  wont  to 
waste  a  great  deal  of  valuable  time,  both  of  him 
self  and  the  oxen,  in  a  useless  endeavor  to  persuade 
"  Buck"  to  come  under  the  yoke  in  the  place  where 
"Bright"  ought  to  be* 

ADVERSITY. 

Horace's  mother  was  a  woman  of  many  excel 
lences,  and  contributed  much,  by  her  training,  to 
bring  the  boy  rapidly  forward.  Of  his  father,  Zac- 
cheus,  we  do  not  hear  very  much,  except  that  he 
was  a  good-natured,  improvident  man,  who  kept  his 
help  (and  himself,  too,  for  that  matter)  too  well 
supplied  with  New  England's-  favorite  beverage, 
rum.  As  a  consequence,  he  was  sold  out  by  the 
sheriff,  and  fled  with  his  family  to  Westhaven,  Rut- 

*  Parton's  Panegyric,  page  67. 


414  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  72. 

land  county,  Vermont,  where    he  took  a  farm  of 
a  nabob  of  those  parts,  and  operated  it  on  shares. 

A  POSSIBLE  (BUT  NOT  PROBABLE)  EPISODE. 

It  must  have  been  while  on  the  Amherst  farm 
that  Horace  took  those  first  lessons  in  agriculture 
to  which  he  alludes  in  "  What  I  Know  about  Farm 
ing."  He  there  tells  how  he  commenced  his  career 
as  an  agriculturist  by  riding  the  old  mare  to  furrow 
between  his  father's  corn,  when  he  was  only  five 
years  old.  Already  his  genius  for  acquiring  knowl 
edge  had  shown  itself  in  his  exploits  with  the  read 
ing  book,  and  the  neighbors  had  already  marked 
him  as  the  boy  who  was  one  day  to  be  President 
(one  of  the  million  American  youths  who  have  been 
thus  marked,  though  we  have  had  only  eighteen 
Presidents.)  If  marvels  such  as  we  read  about  in 
ancient  Roman  history  had  not  gone  out  of  fashion 
long  ago,  we  might  have  looked  in  that  memorable 
cornfield  for  a  repetition  of  the  omen  experienced 
by  the  Tarquinian  Lucius,  whose  cap,  the  veracious 
fable  tells  us,  was  removed  by  an  eagle,  and  then, 
after  that  fowl  had  cut  a  pigeon-wing  in  the  air, 
was  gracefully  replaced.  We  might  imagine  the 
juvenile  Horace — Hod,  for  short — thus  visited;  but 
if  so,  the  bird  should  have  been  the  pelican — type 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  to  which  Horace 
will  be  indebted  for  the  supreme  place  in  the  na 
tion's  councils,  if  he  ever  obtains  it. 

Zaccheus  Greeley's  exodus  took  place  in  1821, 
when  Horace  was  ten  years  old.  He  continued  to 
help  about  the  farm — to 


HORACE    GREELEY.  415 

"Mow  and  hoe  and  hold  the  plow, 
And  long  for  one-and-twenty," 

and  to  absorb  the  contents  of  all  the  books  and 
newspapers  which  came  within  seven  miles  of  him 
(we  follow  the  figures  of  his  Boswell  in  this  narra 
tive)  until  he  had  got  well  into  his  sixteenth  year. 
The  experiences  of  the  farm  were  only  varied  by 
the  exploits  of  the  spelling  school,  the  lyceum,  and 
the  village  tavern,  where  "  Hod"  was  often  trotted 
out  by  admiring  old  codgers  who  there  sat  in  per 
petual  congress,  and  whose  earnest  applause,  while 
developing  in  the  boy  a  streak  of  vanity  which  has 
never  left  him,  doubtless  did  him  much  good,  by 
also  developing  in  him  the  quality  of  self-reliance, 
and  encouraging  him  on  a  path  which  boys  usually 
find  thorny,  rough  and  unattractive. 

A    NARROW    ESCAPE. 

To  these  incidents  were  added  few  out  of  which 
the  biographer  can  construct  a  thrilling  episode — 
absolutely  none,  in  fact,  except  one,  wherein,  it  ap 
pears,  the  young  philosopher's  thread  of  life  came 
near  being  nipped  prematurely.  When  he  was 
thirteen  years  old  occurred  an  adventure  which 
Parton  designates  as  "  Horace's  first  experience  at 
log-rolling."  (Cincinnati  may  be  termed  his  last, 
thus  far.)  Himself  and  his  younger  brother  were 
floating  across  a  mill-pond  upon  saw-logs,  which  ap 
pears  to  have  been  the  regular  means  of  making  the 
transit.  The  younger  one  suddenly  found  himself 
plumped  into  the  pond,  in  water  far  beyond  his 
depth.  Horace  sailed  to  his  relief  upon  his  own 


41 6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

log,  but  was  soon  floundering  in  the  water  with  his 
brother.  Neither  could  swim ;  but  the  younger 
one  had  the  sagacity  to  escape  to  a  more  tenable 
mooring  by  clambering  over  Horace,  who  still 
struggled  with  the  treacherous  log,  yelling  lustily 
for  help.  This  came  at  last,  and  the  editor  of  the 
Tribune  was  rescued  from  what  had  threatened  to 
be  his  watery  grave. 

ANOTHER. 

It  would  appear  that  the  young  philosopher  did 
not,  even  through  this  thrilling  experience,  master 
the  science  of  riding  saw-logs  successfully;  for 
since  his  nomination  at  Cincinnati,  a  correspondent 
of  the  Warren  (Pa.)  Mail  has  contributed  to  his 
tory  the  following  similar  incident,  with  which  he 
endeavors  to  point  a  moral : 

"  In  1841  the  correspondent  was  working  at  a  saw-mill  in  Wrightsville. 
Greeley  being  in  that  section  on  a  visit  to  his  father's  family,  came  along  can 
vassing  for  his  paper.  He  started  to  cross  the  pond  on  loose  logs.  '  Now,' 
says  the  correspondent,  '  such  logs  never  will  keep  still.  They  bolt,  and  the 
bolting  philosopher  soon  found  himself  on  two  logs  and  two  legs  spreading 
wider  and  wider  apart  the  longer  he  tried  to  stand  still  !  The  writer  called 
to  him  to  go  ahead,  but  he  didn't  ;  he  only  went  in  up  to  his  neck,  and  that's 
all  he  knows  about  riding  a  saw-log.  Now  if  he  can't  ride  two  saw-logs  in 
one  direction,  how  can  he  ride  two  horses  running  in  different  directions, 
without  going  under  ?  That's  the  question.' " 

At  fourteen,  the  precocious  youth  had  already 
become  a  profound  politician,  and  could  put  to 
rout  almost  any  of  the  Democratic  politicians  of 
those  parts.  He  had  also  become  a  confirmed 
Universalist  in  religion;  nor  has  his  Whiggism  nor 
his  Universalism  ever  wavered  a  hair-breadth  since 


HORACE    GREELEY.  417 

that  day,  though    other  isms  by  the  dozen  have 
risen  and  subsided  in  his  fermenting  brain. 

HE  GOES  TO  BE  A  PRINTER. 

At  fifteen,*  Horace  was  bound  as  an  apprentice 
to  the  publisher  of  the  Northern  Spectator,  a  week 
ly  paper  published  at  East  Poultney,  Vermont, 
having  walked  from  Westhaven,  all  by  himself,  to 
secure  a  situation  advertised  in  that  paper — the 
stereotyped  "  Boy  Wanted,"  so  familiar  at  the 
head  of  the  editorial  columns  of  many  country 
weeklies.  Horace  seems  to  have  had  the  faculty 
of  impressing  himself  upon  everybody  whom  he 
met  for  the  first  time  as  an  unmitigated  idiot.  He 
so  impressed  the  editor  of  the  Northern  Spectator, 
who  nevertheless  consented  to  take  him,  and  was 
soon  proud  of  the  budding  faculties  of  his  appren 
tice. 

MUSTERED  OUT. 

Here  Horace  worked  over  four  years,  having 
been  released  from  the  conditions  of  his  appren 
ticeship  about  a  year  before  its  expiration,  by  the 
failure  of  the  newspaper  and  of  the  firm  which 
conducted  it.  This  occurred  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  Horace  had  contributed  many  paragraphs  to 
its  columns  during  the  last  year  or  two  of  his  ser 
vice.  The  dissolution  of  this  concern  mustered 
Horace  Greeley  out  of  service  at  East  Poultney, 
with  twenty  dollars  in  cash,  a  wardrobe  which  he 

*  Viz.,  in  the  spring  of  1826. 


41 8  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

might  have  stuffed  in  his  pocket,  and  a  fair  knowl 
edge  of  the  typographic  art.  Released  from  his 
apprenticeship  and  "  out  of  a  sit,"  as  the  printers 
term  it,  he  set  out  for  a  visit  to  his  parents,  who 
had  then  removed  "away  out  West,"  into  the  wilds 
of  Pennsylvania.*  He  did  not  leave  the  scenes 
of  his  struggles  with  the  art  of  Guttemberg  and 
of  his  many  debating-school  triumphs,  without  re 
ceiving  a  testimonial  from  admiring  friends. 

The  landlord  of  the  tavern  in  which  Horace  had 
boarded,  seeing  the  young  man  about  to  set  out  on 
his  journey,  scantily  clad  and  with  a  sore  leg 
(which  the  curious  reader  will  find  duly  depicted 
on  the  1 6th  page  of  Mr.  Parton's  book)  felt  so 
moved  in  his  heart  toward  the  youthful  pilgrim  that 
he  urged  one  of  his  other  boarders,  then  sitting  by, 
to  give  Horace  an  old  overcoat  which  he  (the 
boarder)  then  had  on ;  and  so  contagious  did  this 
generous  emotion  of  the  landlord  prove  that  the 
garment  was  immediately  stripped  off  and  con 
ferred  upon  Horace,  who,  being  much  smaller  than 
his  benefactor,  walked  away  quite  overwhelmed 
with  (and  in)  his  newly  acquired  possession. 

IN    NEW    YORK. 

This  ends  the  boyhood  history  of  Horace  Gree- 
ley.  He  next  appears  as  a  young  man  in  his 
twenty-first  year,  applying  for  work  at  the  case  in 
New  York.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  young  Greeley 
was  not  at  this  time  so  lacking  in  confidence  as 

*  Where  his  father  died,  aged  80  and  upwards,  about  1870. 


HORACE    GREELEY.  419 

many  young  men  who  make  their  way  to  the  city 
in  pursuit  of  work.  He  had  acquired  some  of  the 
habits  of  journeymen  printer's — among  them,  card 
playing  and  a  fluency  in  swearing  and  obscenity 
which  have  since,  as  exhibited  in  and  about  the 
Tribune  office,  been  the  admiration  of  outsiders 
and  the  terror  of  employees.  He  had  but  recently 
beaten  Joe  Wilson,  of  Cattaraugus  county,  at  a 

game  of  chequers,  and well,  it  could  no  longer  be 

disguised  from  a  young  man  of  Horace's  keen  per 
ception,  that  he  was  "  no  slouch"  of  a  fellow,  take 
him  for  all  in  all.  But  this  impression  was  not 
readily  shared  by  casual  observers;  and  hence, 
when  Horace  appeared  to  take  a  "  sit"  in  the  office 
of  a  Mr.  West,  at  No.  85  Chatham  street,  he  was 
the  subject  of  no  little  cacchination  on  the  part  of 
the  printers  there  employed,  and  of  the  following 
remark  from  the  proprietor  to  the  foreman : 
"  What !  did  you  hire  that  -  -  fool  ?* 

PARTNER  IN  A  JOB  OFFICE. 

"  That fool"  proved,  however,  to  be  one  of 

the  best  printers  in  the  shop,  and  came  forward 
rapidly  in  his  trade.  At  the  beginning  of  1833  we 
find  him  forming  a  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Story, 
in  the  proprietorship  of  a  job  printing  establish 
ment  on  a  small  scale.  The  firm  of  Greeley  & 
Story  was  originated  by  the  latter  named  partner, 
for  the  purpose  of  publishing  a  two-penny  morning 
paper  for  one  Dr.  Sheppard,  and  doing  such  other 

*Parton,  page  124. 


420  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

job  work  as  could  be  obtained.  The  paper,  called 
the  Morning  Post,  was  the  first  one  of  its  price 
ever  conceived  in  this  country  or  elsewhere ;  in 
deed,  it  was  never  born  as  a  penny,  paper,  the 
printers  having  persuaded  the  Doctor  to  place  his 
price  at  two  cents  for  a  time.  The  enterprise  failed 
in  its  third  week,  but  the  firm  of  Greeley  &  Sto 
ry  went  on  swimmingly  until  dissolved  by' the  death 
of  Story,  in  the  middle  of  the  first  year.  The  chief 
revenue  of  the  concern  was  derived  from  lottery 
printing,  which  the  firm  made  a  specialty.  It  seems 
that,  though  Greeley  had  imbibed  a  great  many  isms 
— among  them  Washingtonianism,  anti-Masonism 
(on  which  he  is  very  much  set  to  this  day),  Gra- 
hamism,  Communism,  etc.,  he  had  not  acquired  any 
such  antipathy  to  the  lottery  business — then  infest 
ing  the  lower  strata  of  society  with  particular  viru 
lence — as  to  prevent  his  soliciting  business  auxiliary 
to  this  species  of  gambling.  The  death  of  Story 
did  not  break  up  the  business,  as  the  lottery  print 
ing  had  already  begun  to  be  quite  remunerative. 
Greeley  took  in  two  more  partners,  named  Jonas 
Winchester  and  E.  Sibbett,  and  the  firm  name  be 
came  Greeley  &  Co.  He  subsequently  alludes 
to  these  men,  in  a  letter  which  he  printed  in  the 
Tribune,  as  "bad  partners" — not  a  chivalrous  phrase, 
in  view  of  the  facts. 

HIS    AFFECTATIONS. 

\ 

It  was  about  this  time    (1833-4)  that  Greeley 
began  to  develop  some  of  the  personal  eccentrici- 


HORACE    GREELEY.  421 

ties  which  form  so  large  an  element  of  his  notori 
ety.  For  instance,  he  was  very  slovenly  about  his 
dress,  and  it  is  recorded  by  his  faithful  Boswell  that 
the  ladies  of  Mr.  Winchester's  household  had  great 
difficulty  "in  inducing  him  to  keep  his  shirt  but 
toned  over  his  white  bosom."  It  is  also  related  by 
the  same  chronicler  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  for 
getting  whether  he  had  been  to  dinner,  and  that 
he  would  often  be  sent  off  after  superfluous  meals, 
or  fooled  into  fasting  altogether  by  the  practical 
jokers  of  the  office.  This  indication  of  genius  was 
not  lost  upon  his  admiring  friends,  who  swore  by 
him  as  an  oracle,  whereas  some  of  his  old  New 
England  neighbors  would  probably  have  been  more 
than  ever  disposed  to  brand  as  a  (blank)  fool,  a 
grown  man  who  "  didn't  know  enough  to  go  to 
dinner." 

A    GRAHAMITE. 

If,  however,  Horace  did  not  know  enough  to  go 
to  dinner,  he  knew  a  thing  or  two  about  what 
should  be  eaten  on  arriving  there.  In  1834  he  em 
braced  the  doctrines  of  Dr.  Graham  concerning 
food,  and,  as  was  his  wont  with  regard  to  other  the 
ories  which  struck  him  favorably,  he  became  com 
pletely  possessed  by  them  for  a  time,  carrying  them 
to  their  farthest  extreme.  He  became  a  vegetarian 
of  the  strictest  sect,  and  reveled  in  bran-meal  mush 
and  apples,  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  succu 
lent  and  savory,  especially  meat.  To  carry  this 
doctrine  into  practical  effect,  and  also  to  place  him- 

25 


422  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

self  conspicuously  before  the  world  as  one  who  had 
renounced  the  lascivious  pleasures  of  the  chop  and 
steak,  Greeley  went  to  the  Graham  Hotel  to  board. 

CUPID    SMITES. 

It  was  here  that  he  first  encountered  the  lady 
who  soon  afterward  became  his  wife — Miss  Mary 
Y.  Cheney,  of  North  Carolina,  a  young  woman  of 
the  strong  intellectual  type,  and  a  school  teacher, 
who  also  doted  upon  Graham  breads,  and  who  had 
come  even  further  than  her  lover  to  carry  out  her 
theories  of  living.  Their  marriage  occurred  on  the 
5th  of  July,  1836,  and  has  never  been  dissolved, 
though  there  have  always  been  rumors  that  it  did 
not  prove  entirely  a  happy  one.  These  rumors 
have  probably  been  exaggerated.  At  all  events, 
the  fruits  of  the  marriage  have  been  five  children, 
of  whom  only  one — a  daughter,  Ida,  now  twenty 
odd  years  old — survives.  In  view  of  the  possibility 
of  Mr.  Greeley 's  being  chosen  President,  there  may 
be  some  curiosity  about  the  future  lady  of  the 
White  House.  This  will  undoubtedly  be  Miss  Ida, 
as  society  has  not  known  her  mother  at  all,  not 
withstanding  Mr.  Greeley 's  prominence,  his  idiosyn- 
cracies  and  his  genial  sociality  have  made  him  a 
favorite  in  many  parlors,  and  especially  at  public 
banquets. 

THOSE    SILK    STOCKINGS. 

While  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Greeley's  personal 
eccentricities,  particularly  of  dress,  we  must  not  for- 


HORACE    GREELEY.  423 

get  the  story  of  his  wedding  stockings.  Horace 
had  imbibed  from  some  source — probably  from  some 
of  the  books  which  he  had  read  in  Vermont — an 
idea  that  the  only  correct  costume  for  a  gentle 
man  to  be  married  in,  should  include  a  pair  of  silk 
stockings.  He  accordingly  ordered  a  gorgeous  pair 
along  with  the  wedding  suit.  Arraying  himself  in 
the  outfit,  in  rehearsal  for  the  event,  he  was  dis 
gusted  to  the  point  of  profanity  to  find  that  the 
pantaloons  came  down  so  well  upon  the  foot  as  to 
bury  the  silk  stockings  in  total  eclipse.  His  radi 
cally  philosophical  mind  immediately  preceived  that 
there  was  no  use  in  sporting  silk  stockings  for 
nobody  to  look  at — to  "  blush  unseen"  beneath  the 
shadow  of  black  doeskin.  And  here  the  inventive 
genius  of  our  philosopher  came  into  play.  While 
a  common  mind,  or  one  tied  down,  like  that  of 
General  Grant,  for  instance,  to  the  conventionalities 
of  society,  would  have  gone  to  the  wedding,  and 
few  of  the  spectators  been  aware  whether  their 
bridegroom's  hose  were  of  silk  or  cotton,  Greeley 
severed  the  Gordian  knot  of  the  situation,  and  won 
an  easy  triumph.  He  ordered  the  tailor  to  cut  a 
sort  of  half  moon  into  the  bottom  of  the  panta 
loons,  large  enough  to  exhibit  the  gorgeousness  of 
the  stockings  so  plainly  that  the  wayfaring  man, 
though  a  fool,  need  not  err  therein.  The  silken 
hose  appeared  in  all  their  glory,  and  the  trowsers 
were,  to  say  the  least,  of  a  cut  which  no  man  had 
ever  worn  before,  so  that  the  device  may  be  pro 
nounced  a  complete  success.  "  The  way  to  resume 


424  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

specie  payment  is  to  resume"  says  our  philosopher. 
"  The  way  for  everybody  to  be  happy  and  wealthy 
is  to  associate" ;  and  the  way  to  exhibit  your  stock 
ings  to  advantage  is  explained  in  the  foregoing 
lines. 

THE    WHITE    COAT. 

It  was  also  during  or  about  this  eventful  period 
of  Greeley's  life  that  the  famous  white  coat  first 
made  its  appearance.  The  young  adventurer  had 
not  failed  to  perceive  that  his  awkwardness  of  ap 
pearance  had,  on  the  whole,  worked  rather  in  his 
favor  than  against  him,  since  they  had  enhanced 
his  individuality,  and  made  him  a  "  marked  man," 
as  the  saying  is.  He  evidently  resolved  to  culti 
vate  this  feature  of  his  personality,  and  cast  about 
him  for  some  sort  of  garment  which  would  serve 
the  purpose  better  than  any  other.  He  found  it 
upon  a  newly  arrived  immigrant — a  long  grey  coat 
of  wool,  which,  not  being  made  under  the  protect 
ing  wing  of  Henry  Clay  tariffs,  was  wrell  made,  and 
lasted  an  astonishingly  long  time.  When  it  was 
gone,  another  was  found,  and  thus  Greeley  was  dis 
tinguished  until  his  metamorphosis  occurred,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  visiting  Europe  in  1851.  Then 
he  plunged  to  the  opposite  extreme,  but  soon  lapsed 
back  into  a  slip-shod,  though  not  absolutely  eccen 
tric  style  of  costume. 

A    MEAL    FOR    A    GRAHAMITE. 

Having  wandered  away  from  our  chronological 
bearings,  we  may  as  well  relate  (still  on  the  autho- 


HORACE    GREELEY.  425 

rity  of  Greeley's  own  biographer)  an  anecdote 
which  his  friends  tell  in  illustration  of  the  eccen 
tricities  above  referred  to.  It  was  during  the 
famous  campaign  of  1840.  Let  us  have  the  story 
in  the  charming  language  of  Mr.  Parton,  who 
vouches  for  it  as  literally  true : 

"Time, — Sunday  evening.  Scene, — the  parlor  of  a  friend's  house.  Com 
pany, — numerous  and  political,  except  the  ladies,  who  are  gracious  and  hos 
pitable.  Mr.  Greeley  is  expected  to  tea,  but  does  not  come,  and  the  meal  is 
transacted  without  him.  Tea  over,  he  arrives,  and  plunges  headlong  into  a 
conversation  on  the  currency.  The  lady  of  the  house  thinks  he  '  had  better 
take  some  tea,'  but  cannot  get  a  hearing  on  the  subject  ;  is  distressed,  puts 
the  question  at  length,  and  has  her  invitation  hurriedly  declined  ;  brushed 
aside,  in  fact,  with  a  wave  of  the  hand. 

"  'Take  a  cruller,  any  way,'  said  she,  handing  him  a  cake  basket  containing 
a  dozen  or  so  of  those  unspeakable,  Dutch  mdigestibles. 

11  The  expounder  of  the  currency,  dimly  conscious  that  a  large  object  was 
approaching  him,  puts  forth  his  hands,  still  vehemently  talking,  and  takes, 
not  a  cruller,  but  the  cake -basket,  and  deposits  it  in  his  lap.  The  company 
are  inwardly  convulsed,  and  some  of  the  weaker  members  retire  to  the  ad 
joining  apartment,  the  expounder  continuing  his  harangue,  unconscious  of 
their  emotions  or  it  cause.  Minutes  elapse.  His  hands,  in  their  wandering 
through  the  air,  come  in  contact  with  the  topmost  cake,  which  they  take  and 
break.  He  begins  to  eat ;  and  eats  and  talks,  talks  and  eats,  till  he  has  fin 
ished  a  cruller.  Then  he  feels  for  another,  and  eats  that,  and  goes  on,  slowly 
consuming  the  contents  of  the  basket  till  the  last  crumb  is  gone.  The  com 
pany  look  on  amazed,  and  the  kind  lady  of  the  house  fears  for  the  conse 
quences.  She  had  heard  that  cheese  is  an  antidote  to  indigestion.  Taking 
the  empty  cake-basket  from  his  lap,  she  silently  puts  a  plate  of  cheese  in  its 
place,  hoping  that  instinct  will  guide  his  hand  aright.  The  experiment  suc 
ceeds.  Gradually  the  blocks  of  white  new  cheese  disappear.  She  removes 
the  plate.  No  ill  consequences  follow.  Those  who  saw  this  sight  are  fixed 
in  the  belief  that  Mr.  Greeley  was  not  then,  nor  has  since  become,  aware 
that  on  that  evening  he  partook  of  sustenance." 

THE    "  NEW  YORKER." 

Meantime,  Greeley  has  made  his  debut  and  his 
first  success  as  an  editor.  On  the  22d  of  March, 
1834,  appeared  the  first  number  of  the  New  York- 


426  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

er,  of  which  the  firm  of  Greeley  &  Co.,  above  de 
scribed,  were  the  proprietors  and  Greeley  himself 
chief  editor.  The  joint  capital  of  the  firm  was 
then  about  $3,000.  The  paper  which  they  proposed 
to  print  was  a  political,  (but  not  partisan)  literary 
and  family  weekly,  of  a  class  much  higher  than 
any  then  published  in  this  country  ;  and  few  will 
deny  that  they  carried  out  their  idea  with  great 
zeal  and  fair  ability.  The  New  Yorker  was  a 
model  of  typhographical  neatness ;  its  selected 
matter  was  choice,  its  compilations  of  news  uncom 
monly  full  and  accurate  for  the  time,  and  its  edit 
orials  pointed,  energetic  and  original.  Its  first  en 
deavor  to  be  impartial  in  politics  did  not  succeed 
very  well.  Still,  its  Whiggism  was  much  more 
moderate  than  that  of  Mr.  Greeley's  subsequent 
ventures  in  the  journalistic  line.  One  of  the  fea 
tures  of  the  New  Yorker  was  the  publication  of  a 
piece  of  music  each  week.  The  first  number  con 
tained  "Meet  me  by  moonlight  alone;"  the  next, 
"  Still  so  gently  o'er  me  ; "  and  the  next  two  were 
devoted  to  Rossini's  "All  by  the  shady  greenwood 
tree ;"  and  in  view  of  the  narrow  space  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  editor,  it  is  evident  that  the  musical 
feature  of  the  New  Yorker  was  intended  to  be  an 
important  one.  The  plan  underwent  some  change 
as  time  wore  on  ;  but  through  all  the  circulation 
increased,  until  it  reached  at  one  time  9,000.  Yet, 
through  the  failure  of  any  of  its  proprietors  to 
grasp  the  practical  and  financial  situation,  the  en 
terprise  never  paid,  and  the  publishers  buried  in  it, 


HORACE    GREELEY.  427 

during  the  seven  years  of  its  existence,  all  the 
money  they  could  make  out  of  their  job  office,  and 
all  they  had  accumulated  at  the  beginning. 

During  the  campaign  of  1840,  Greeley  published 
and  edited  the  Log  Cabin,  a  Whig  campaign  paper, 
in  addition  to  the  New  Yorker,  then  still  in  exist 
ence.  In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  they 
were  both  merged  in  the  Weekly  Tribune. 

STARTS    THE    ((  TRIBUNE." 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  roth  of  April, 
1841,  that  the  first  number  of  the  Tribune  was  is 
sued,  as  a  cheap  Whig  daily,  with  a  purpose  to  be 
more  decent  as  well  as  more  enterprising  than  the 
Sun  and  Herald — then  the  leading  penny  papers  in 
New  York.  The  Tribune  was  sold  at  one  cent  a 
copy,  or  $4  a  year.  Its  capital  was  $1,000,  bor 
rowed  by  Greeley  of  James  Coggeshall ;  the  talent 
of  himself  and  Henry  J.  Raymond,  then  new  to  New 
York  daily  journalism;  and  the  real  need,  which 
then  existed,  of  such  a  paper.  The  Tribune  began 
with  600  subscribers,  and  printed  an  edition  of 
5,000  the  first  day,  only  a  portion  of  which  were 
sold.  The  circulation  of  the  Tribune  increased 
apace,  and  well  it  might ;  for  besides  being  the 
cheapest  of -all  respectable  papers  in  the  city,  it  was 
as  newsy,  spicy  and  able  as  the  best  of  the  ten-dol 
lar  journals.  Both  Greeley  and  Raymond  performed 
prodigies  of  work,  the  former  usually  writing  about 
three  columns  per  day  of  editorial  matter.  Never 
theless  the  paper  did  not  attain  financial  success 


"4.28  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

during  the  first  few  months,  for  a  reason  which  is 
obvious.  It  lacked  a  good  business  head.  This  it 
fortunately  found  in  Thomas  McElrath,  who  took 
an  interest  in  the  concern  and  assumed  the  busi 
ness  management  on  July  31,  following  the  foun 
dation  of  the  Tribune.  Raymond  should  have 
been  made  a  partner  also ;  but  he  was  kept  on  a 
salary  of  $8  per  week,  and  was,  after  a  year  or  two, 
allowed  to  leave  the  paper.  The  course  of  Gree- 
ley  toward  both  Raymond  and  McElrath  has  been 
criticised ;  but  upon  what  data  we  shall  not  under 
take  here  to  say.  The  best  authority  upon  this  sub 
ject  is  Maverick's  Life  of  Raymond,  which,  how 
ever,  has  a  slight  bias  of  personal  favoritism  for  the 
lamented  subject  of  the  biography. 

Mr.  Greeley  embraced  Fourierism  as  early  as 
1839;  t>ut  it  did  not  crop  out  in  the  Tribune  until 
near  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  that  paper's  exist 
ence.  The  most  important  facts  of  Mr.  Greeley's 
career  in  behalf  of  Communism  are  reserved  for  a 
separate  chapter  in  this  history.  The  fact  of  such 
a  connection  is  mentioned  here  as  an  episode  of 
the  Tribunes  history — and  a  very  important  epi 
sode  it  was,  since  it  had  much  to  do  with  the  sud 
denly  gained  notoriety  of  that  paper. 

GREELEY  AS  AN  EDITOR. 

Mr.  Parton,  in  expressing  his  regrets  that  Gree 
ley  allowed  Raymond  to  leave  him,  remarks,  "Hor 
ace  Greeley  is  not  a  born  journalist.  He  is  too 
much  in  earnest  to  be  a  perfect  editor.  He  has 


HORACE   GREELEY.  429 

too  many  opinions  and  preferences.  He  is  a  born 
Legislator,  a  Deviser  of  Remedies,  a  Suggester  of 
Expedients,  a  Framer  of  Measures."  But  Parton 
is  manifestly  wrong  in  ruling  Greeley  out  of  the 
sphere  of  journalism  upon  these  qualities  and 
characteristics.  It  is  obvious  from  this  schedule 
of  his  biographer,  as  well  as  from  his  life  generally, 
that  Mr.  Greeley  is  a  theorist,  rather  than  a  prac 
tical  man  ;  an  observer  who  takes  a  birds-eye  view 
of  humanity,  rather  than  one  who  comes  amongst 
it  and  learns  the  character  and  qualities  of  each 
specimen;  and  a  ready  and  fertile  inventor  of 
things  practicable  and  impracticable,  rather  than 
an  organizer  and  handy  operator  of  affairs.  The 
qualities  which  he  has  are  needed  in  the  journalist; 
of  those  needed  by  the  Legislator  he  has  but  few, 
as  he  proved  when  in  Congress ;  and  of  those 
needed  by  the  Executive  he  has  next  to  none. 
Tact  he  has  not ;  but  genius  in  a  certain  direction, 
viz.,  of  accumulating  facts,  constructing  theories, 
and  communicating  ideas,  he  certainly  has.  In 
this  direction  runs  the  path  of  the  journalist ; 
and  although  Mr.  Greeley  is  deficient  in  the  judi 
cial  faculty,  which  every  journalist  should  have,  yet 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  is,  or  rather  was,  until 
the  Presidential  mania  seized  him,  the  most  bril 
liantly  successful,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  chief  of 
all  journalists  in  America. 

HIS    INTEMPERANCE    OF    LANGUAGE. 

Mr.  Greeley's  career,  as   editor  of  the    Tribune, 


43O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

cannot  here  be  traced  in  detail.  Only  such  points 
as  illustrate  his  individual  peculiarities  will  be 
alluded  to.  One  of  these  peculiarities  is  his  intem 
perate  use  of  invective,  showing  his  lack  of  prac 
tical  charity,  and  his  uncontrollable  tendency  to 
become  flagrantly  belligerent  upon  any  case  sub 
mitted  for  his  consideration.  His  penchant  for 
vituperative  language  toward  his  opponents  devel 
oped  itself  early  in  the  history  of  the  Tribune,  and 
continued  up  to  the  latest  recorded  utterance.  It 
is  as  natural  for  him  to  call  names  in  his  newspaper 
as  it  is  for  a  Billingsgate  fishwoman  at  her  stand ; 
and  the  only  excuse  to  be  offered  for  such  violation 
of  dignity  and  decency  is  the  same  in  each  ease, 
viz.,  that  no  fights  ever  come  of  it,  as  would  hap 
ped  if  another  had  used  the  epithet.  Scarcely  a 
day  passes  during  a  compaign  season,  when  Mr. 
Greeley  is  habitually  engaged  at  writing  editorials 
for  the  Tribune,  that  he  does  not  brand  some  state 
ment  as  "a  lie."  Somewhat  less  frequently  he  dubs 
some  person  "a  villain,"  etc.  He  used  to  pursue 
Major  Noah,  of  a  rival  paper,  with  especial  vindic- 
tiveness.  In  one  paragraph  referring  to  him  he 
would  commence  with,  "  We  ought  not  to  notice 
this  old  villain  again."  In  another,  he  would  refer 
to  him  as  a  "superannuated  renegade  from  all  par 
ties."  a  "worn-out  tool,"  etc.  Here  are  other  deli 
cate  morsels  of  Tribune  repartee  : 

"  The  villain  who  makes  this  charge  against  me  well  knows  its  falsehood." 
"We  defy  the  Father  of  lies  himself  to  crowd  more  stupendous  falsehoods 

into  a  paragraph  than  this  contains." 

"  Mr.  Benton  !    Each  of  the  above  observations  is  a  deliberate  falsehood, 

and  you  are  an  unqualified  villain  ! " 


HORACE  GREELEY.  431 


GREELEY  AND  WHITE  EXCHANGE  COMPLIMENTS. 

And  it  was  only  last  summer  that  Mr.  Greeley 
dubbed  the  editor  of  the  -Chicago  Tribune — now 
perforce  his  principal  advocate  in  the  West — as  "  a 
sublime  liar;"  but  the  editor  referred  to  had  got 
ahead  of  Greeley  in  this  respect  by  saying  of  him 
some  months  before : 

"  For  twenty-five  years  he  has  been  a  marplot  in  council ;  an  unreliable 
commander  in  action  ;  a  misanthrope  in  victory,  and  a  riotous  disorganizer 
in  defeat.  He  has  always  been  fanatical  in  his  demands  for  the  extremest 
measures,  and  when  the  party  has  reached  the  eve  of  triumph,  invariably 
thrusts  himself  forward  as  a  negotiator  of  terms  of  surrender  to  the  enemy. 
His  course  during  the  war  was  but  a  repetition  of  his  course  in  politics. 
In  1861  he  was  an  open  defender  of  secession  ;  he  changed  to  a  vigorous 
champion  of  the  war,  and  thereafter  was  forever  recklessly  making  proposals 
for  peace  and  as  recklessly  withdrawing  them — making  war  in  spite  of  Mars, 
and  negotiating  in  spite  of  Minerva. 

"  For  twenty  years  he  has  been  an  uncompromising  advocate  for  a  square 
fight  with  the  pro-slavery  party,  and  when  that  kind  of  a  fight  was  forced 
upon  the  Republicans  in  1860,  he  was  here  in  Chicago,  voting  not  for  Lin 
coln,  nor  for  Chase,  but  for  old  Edward  Bates,  of  Missouii,  one  of  the  fossils 
of  the  slave  party.  He  was  then  the  associate  and  co-laborer  of  that  other 
impracticable  and  unreliable  squad,  the  Blair  family.  The  country  at  this 
time  wants  no  inspired  Harlequins  in  the  national  councils.  Still  less  does 
it  want  men  with  statesmanship  so  microscopic  that  they  can  see  nothing  in 
public  business  but  the  mileage  and  per  diem  of  their  fellow  members.  If 
Mr.  Greeley  is  not  satisfied  with  his  position  as  a  journalist — a  position  which 
ought  to  be  equal,  in  point  of  influence,  power,  and  dignity,  to  that  of  six 
average  Senators — and  if  the  Republicans  of  New  York  want  to  do  some 
thing  for  him,  let  them  make  him  State  Prison  Inspector,  or  even  Governor, 
anything  that  will  not  make  the  people  outside  of  the  State  responsible  for 
his  follies."  » 

Mr.  Greeley  continued  his  connection  with  the 
Tribune  up  to  the  I5th  of  May,  1872,  when,  follow 
ing  the  advice  of  friends  proffered  in  view  of  his 
recent  nomination  for  President,  he  published  in 
that  paper  the  following  card : 


432  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

"  The  Tribune  has  ceased  to  be  a  party  organ,  but  the  unexpected  nomin 
ation  of  its  editor  at  Cincinnati,  seems  to  involve  it  in  a  new  embarrassment 
All  must  be  aware  that  the  position  of  a  journalist  who  is  at  the  same  time 
a  candidate,  is  at  best  irksome  and  difficult ;  that  he  is  fettered  in  action  and 
restrained  in  criticism  by  the  knowledge  that  whatever  he  may  say  or  do  is 
closely  scanned  by  thousands,  eager  to  find  in  it  what  may  be  so  interpreted 
as  to  annoy  or  perplex  those  who  are  supporting  him  as  a  candidate,  and  to 
whom  his  shackled  condition  will  not  permit  him  to  be  serviceable.  The 
undersigned,  therefore,  withdraws  absolutely  from  the  conduct  of  the  Tribune, 
and  will  henceforth,  until  further  notice,  exercise  no  control  or  supervision 
over  its  columns. 

"(Signed,)  HORACE  GREELEY. 

"May  15,  1873." 

GREELEY'S  WORKS. 

During  his  service  on  the  Tribune  and  New 
Yorker  he  fonnd  time  to  enage  in  lecturing  and 
other  enterprises,  out  of  which  he  earned  several 
fortunes,  though  he  has  never  amassed  great  wealth, 
owing  partly  to  improvidence,  and  partly  to  his 
promiscuous  generosity  with  money.*  In  1838-9, 

*Some  idea  of  the  looseness  of  Mr.  Greeley's  habits  in  the  management  of 
money  affairs  may  be  formed  from  an  incident  which  Mr.  Parton  relates  as 
characteristic  :  "  If  a  boy  stole  his  letters  from  the  Post-office,  he  would  ad 
monish  him  and  let  him  go,  or  try  him  again.  On  one  occasion,  he  went  to 
the  Post-office  himself,  and,  receiving  a  large  number  of  letters,  put  them,  it 
is  said,  into  the  pockets  of  his  overcoat.  On  reaching  the  office,  he  hung  the 
overcoat  on  its  accustomed  peg,  and  was  soon  lost  in  the  composition  of  an 
article.  It  was  one  of  the  last  chilly  days  in  spring,  and  he  thought  no  more 
either  of  the  overcoat  or  its  pockets  till  autumn.  Letters  kept  coming  in 
complaining  for  the  non-receipt  of  papers  which  had  been  ordered  and  paid 
for  ;  and  the  office  was  sorely  perplexed.  On  the  first  cool  day  in  October, 
*when  the  editor  was  shaking  the  summer's  dirt  from  his  coat,  the  missing  let 
ters  were  found,  and  the  mystery  was  explained." 

Under  the  same  head  the  Chicago  Times  tells  the  story,  which  is  doubtless 
authentic  in  substance  : 

"  It  has  long  been  notorious  that  whenever  any  unprincipled  adventurer, 
confidence  man,  or  dead  beat  desired  to  '  make  a  raise,'  he  could  readily  de 
vise  the  way  to  bamboozle  H.  G.  into  indorsing  his  note  or  lending  him  the 
required  note.  When  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  auxiliary  Grant  organ  of 


I 

HORACE    GREELEY.  —  438 

I 

he  edited  the  Jeffersonian,  a  Whig  campaign  organ, 
designed  for  New  York  State  circulation ;  he  also 
wrote  leading  articles  for  .the  Daily  Whig,  another 
campaign  organ.  He  has  published  numerous  books, 
mostly  reprinted  from  the  Tribune  and  other  pa 
pers.  Principal  among  these  are  his  "  Hints  To 
ward  Reform"  (1850),  "Glances  at  Europe"  (1853), 
"  History  of  the  Struggle  for  Slavery  Extension 
or  Restriction  in  the  United  States,  from  1718  to 
1856,  (1856).  "  Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life"  (1866), 
"  The  Great  American  Conflict,"  a  history  of  the 
War  of  Rebellion,  in  2  volumes,  (1865),  a  book  in 
Advocacy  of  Protection,  published  in  1868,  and 
"What  I  Know  of  Farming,"  (1870).  /"  Hints  To 
ward  Reform"  was  his  maiden  book.  It  contains 
more  condities  of  manner  than  the  others,  and  is 
at  the  same  time  more  exempt  from  some  of  the 
peculiar  faults  of  Mr.  Greeley's  methods  of  treat- 

this  city  met  the  philosopher  in  New  York  some  months  ago,  he  took  the  liberty 
of  an  old  acquaintanceship  to  ask  him  how  much  he  was  worth.  '  Well,'  said 
the  philosopher,  '  I  don't  know.  I've  got  ten  shares  in  the  Tribune  ;  I've  got 
a  farm  up  here  in  the  country,  and  I've  got  some  other  things,  but  I  don't  know 
what  they're  worth.  '  What  does  your  Tribune  stock  pay  you  ?'  '  I  think  about 
$10,000  a  year.'  '  How  much  does  it  cost  you  to  live  ?'  '  About  $5,000  a  year.' 
'Well,  what  becomes  of  the  other  $5,000?'  'I  pay  my  debts  with  it.' 
'  What  revenue  does  your  farm  yield  ?'  '  From  what  I  know  about  farming, 
I  should  say  not  much.  I  contrive  to  get  a  part  of  my  living  from  it.' 
'  Which  leaves  something  over  five  thousand  with  which  you  pay  your  debts  ?' 
'  Well,  I  think  likely.'  '  How  much  did  you  make  out  of  your  book  ?'  '  I 
should  say  about  a  $100,000.'  '  What  became  of  that  ?'  *  Oh,  I  paid  my 
debts  with  it.  '  Of  course  you  draw  a  salary  from  the  Tribune  ?'  '  Oh,  yes  ; 
I  use  that  to  pay  my  debts.  You  see,  Joe,  the  fact  is,  some  of  these  fellows 
who  get  me  to  indorse  for  them,  turn  out  to  be  liars,  villains,  and  scoundrels  !• 
The  Times  ventures  the  observation  that  it  is  not  economy  in  money  matters, 
any  more  than  it  is  political  economy,  which  H.  G.  represents." 


434  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

ment.  There  is  perceptible  throughout  this  series 
of  essays  a  free  gush  of  sentiment,  or  of  senti 
mentality,  and  the  writer  often  indulges  in  a  flight 
of  fancy  which  would  probably  have  astonished 
him  at  a  later  period  of  his  development.  "Hints 
Toward  Reform"  is  "  affectionately"  inscribed,  with 
many  typographical  flourishes,  "  To  the  Generous, 
the  Hopeful,  the  Loving  who,  firmly  and  joyfully  Be 
lieving  in  the  Impartial  and  Boundless  Goodness  of 
our  Father,  Trust  that  the  Errors,  the  Crimes  and 
the  Miseries  which  have  long  rendered  Earth  a  Hell, 
shall  yet  be  Swallowed  Up  and  Forgotten  in  a  Far 
Exceeding  and  Unmeasured  Reign  of  Truth,  Purity 
and  Bliss." 

In  one  of  the  essays  of  this  volume — that  on 
"Human  Life" — he  pictures  the  scene  which  should 
present  itself  "  to  the  piercing  gaze  of  an  unfet 
tered  spirit,  unmindful  of  space,  who  should  scan 
this  fair  globe  from  the  central  orb  of  our  system," 
with  such  detail  as  to  make  a  sort  of  geographical 
epic  of  the  whole.  From  the  "tiger-haunted  jun 
gles  of  India"  and  the  "swarming  vales  of  China 
and  Japan,"  he  marches  on,  past  the  "scorched  and 
glowing  deserts  of  Africa,  shining  in  silvery  worth- 
lessness  and  desolation,"  to  this  country,  with  the 
"  prairie  openings  in  its  center,  which  nature,  or 
rather,  the  red  man's  annual  conflagration,  has  suf 
ficed  to  hollow  out  by  imperceptible  gradations," 
and  the  great  lakes,  of  which  he  says  the  "  last  is 
surpassing  in  profundity  and  beauty;"  and  thence  to 
the  "broad  placid  surface  of  the  unvexed  Pacific, 


HORACE    GREELEY.  435 

sprinkled  with  isles  of  deepest  emerald,  where  flow 
ers  perennial  bloom." 

GREELEY  AS  A  POET. 

It  should  be  known,  also,  that  Mr.  Greeley  has 
often  "dropped  into  poetry,"  and  that  nearly  forty 
published  poems,  the  product  of  his  muse,  are  now 
extant  in  print.  They  are  less  meritorious  than 
his  prose,  but  that  is  not  saying  that  they  are  bad 
verses ;  for  Horace  Greeley  is  certainly  one  of  the 
most  vigorous  and  felicitous  prose  writers  in  Amer 
ica.  Of  these  poems,  the  most  interesting  and 
carefully  constructed  (and,  as  it  happens,  the  only' 
love  poem  in  the  lot)  is  called  "  Fantasies,"  and 
bears  date  May  31,  1834.  Therein,  after  stating 
that, 

"They  deem  me  cold,  that  through  the  years  departed, 
I  ne'er  have  bowed  me  to  some  form  divine," 

he  goes  on  to  explain : 

"  No  !  in  my  soul  there  glows  but  one  bright  vision, 

And  o'er  my  heart  there  rules  but  one  fond  spell, 
Brightening  my  hours  of  sleep  with  dreams  Elysian 

Of  one  unseen,  yet  loved,  aye,  cherished  well. 
Unseen?     Ah  !  no  :  her  presence  round  me  lingers, 

Chasing  each  wayward  thought  that  tempts  to  rove, 
Weaving  affection's  web  with  fairy  fingers, 

And  waking  thoughts  of  purity  and  love." 

At  the  time  of  composing  this,  Horace  was 
boarding  at  the  Graham  House;  and  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  he  never  had  but  one  "  bright  vis 
ion"  to  haunt  him  in  the  manner  described,  and  she 
the  veritable  one  for  whom  the  silk  stockings  were 
donned  two  years  afterwards. 


6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF 


Some  facts  of  Mr.  Greeley's  connection  with 
American  politics  will  be  touched  upon  in  the  next 
chapter ;  and  as  his  life  has  been  one  prolonged 
political  campaign,  there  are  but  few  incidents  or 
episodes  which  we  need  stop  to  relate  here.  One 
of  these  was  the  Tribune  editor's  voyage  to  Europe 
in  1851,  where  he  served  as  a  juror  at  the  World's 
Fair  in  London,  and  attracted  considerable  atten 
tion  as  a  prominent  American  politician  and  agita 
tor — a  class  which  always  obtains  demonstrative 
recognition  in  England.  In  1859,  ^r-  Greeley 
made  the  journey  overland  to  California,  lecturing 
and  delivering  addresses  at  almost  every  consider 
able  town.  These  are  the  principal  travels  of  our 
hero,  and  the  principal  episodes  of  his  life,  outside 
of  politics. 

CAPTURED  BY  THE  FRENCH. 

An  incident  of  Greeley's  European  tour  has  re 
cently  been  related  by  Don  Piatt  (a  personal  friend 
and  supporter),  and  is  amusing  enough  to  warrant 
its  transcription  here  : 

One  sunny  summer's  afternoon,  nearly  twenty  years  since,  in  beautiful 
Paris,  we  were  dressing  for  a  dinner  party.  We  had  progressed  liesurely  so 
far  as  the  immaculate  linen,  the  buff-colored  pantaloons  with  the  broad  gold 
braid  running  the  length  of  each  leg,  and  the  patent  leather  boots,  when 
further  adornment  was  arrested  by  a  row  upon  the  pavement  in  front  of  the 
Legation.  Looking  through  the  window  we  saw  our  valued  friend,  Horace 
Greeley,  struggling  in  the  hands  of  six  ruffians,  while  a  gathering  crowd 
looked  on  with  the  quiet  indifference  so  peculiar  to  the  French. 

It  was  not  wise  to  rush  into  that  conflict  without  our  diplomatic  coat. 
Could  we  have  added  the  cocked  hat,  with  national  tail  feathers  of  the 
American  rooster,  it  would  have  been  well.  The  French  mind  respects 
the  diplomatic  position,  being  a  civilized,  a  polite  nation,  and  find  in  the 


HORACE    GREELEY.  439 

clothes  thereunto  belonging  conclusive  evidence  of  mysterious  powers.  Now 
our  diplomacy  did  not  get  beyond  the  legs.  From  the  feet  to  the  waist  we 
were  in  the  eyes  of  Paris  a  diplomatic  power.  P'rom  the  waist  up  we  were 
only  a  private  citizen.  We  might  have  kicked  a  French  official,  but  he  in 
return,  while  respecting  our  diplomatic  legs,  could  have  punched  our  unofficial 
head. 

We  have  never  ceased  to  regret  this  false  move  on  our  part.  Oh  !  if  we 
had  only  put  on  that  coat,  what  different  results  would  now  go  to  make  up  the 
Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life  and  the  history  of  the  world.  As  it  was,  our 
arrival  upon  the  scene  did  not  have  the  effect  it  ought  to  have  had.  The 
French  myrmidons  did  not  fall  back  in  respectful  awe  before  us.  Not  much. 
They  only  went  on  more  vigorously  with  their  infamous  work.  This  consisted 
in  an  attempt  to  get  Mr.  Greeley  into  a  very  common  and  disreputable  voiture. 
Two  stout  Frenchmen  were  swung  each  to  the  great  journalist's  arms,  and 
he  held  back  in  the  most  bashful  and  diffident  manner.  The  six  Parisians 
were  all  talking  at  once  in  the  purest  French.  Mr.  Greeley  was  responding 
in  the  purest  English — that  is,  interspersed  with  some  profane  language,  of 
which  he  was,  and  is,  a  consummate  master.  We  recollect  he  called  these 
officious  officials  "  damned  hogs,"  showing  at  the  moment  his  agricultural 
turn.  We  did  not  suggest  at  the  time  that  he  had  better  translate  that  into 
" maudit cochon"  and  so  touch  the  souls  of  the  miserable*,  as  the  hour  for 
discussion  had^passed,  and  that  of  action  arrived.  We  shook  off  one  of  the 
assailants,  and  interposed  our  diplomatic  person  between  our  journalistic 
friend  and  his  other  enemy,  and  while  doing  so  we  cried  : 

"  Run  into  the  bureau,  Mr.  Greeley — run  ! " 

We  knew  that  if  he  once  took  sanctuary  in  that  way,  he  would  stand  as  it 
were  upon  the  sacred  soil  of  free  America,  and  could  bid  the  minions  of  an 
effete  despotism  defiance.  But  he  would  not,  this  infatuated  quill  driver, 
take  the  hint. 

"  What  must  I  run  for  ?"  he  demanded  in  his  querulous,  shrill  voice.  "  I 
have  done  nothing  to  run  from  ;  only  ask  these  damned  scoundrels  what  they 
want." 

We  did  not  believe  our  guileless  friend  ;  we  must  say  that  we  did  not  put 
a  particle  of  confidence  in  his  assertions  of  innocence.  We  believed  he  had 
committed  murder.  From  reading  Mr.  Greeley's  editorials  we  had  been 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  was  capable  of  great  violence.  We  thought 
then  that  he  had  got  into  controversy  with  some  poor  Frenchman  on  the 
tariff,  and  had  assassinated  him  because  of  the  difficulty  of  making  himself 
understood.  Mr.  Greeley  is  troubled  with  this,  and  gets  very  violent  when 
the  fit  is  on  him. 

We  continued  our  friendly  efforts  in  his  behalf.  Not  wishing  to  accompany 
our  dear  friend  to  prison  when  we  were  expected  to  a  charming  dinner,  we 
did  not  murder  the  six  assailants;  we  did  not  even  knock  them  down,  but  we  did 
make  it  very  lively  for  them,  and  gave  Mr.  Greeley  several  excellent  chances 

26 


44O  THE    STRUGGLE-   OF    72. 

escape.  He  declined  accepting  them,  and  knowing  that  we  would  be  too 
late  for  dinner,  we  desisted  at  last,  and  through  our  tears  saw  the  old  white 
hat  and  venerable  coat  chucked  by  the  ruffians  into  that  vulgar  vioture, 
where  two  sat  by  him  and  one  on  him.  The  dirty  vehicle  was  driven  away 
with  such  violence  that  the  horse  actually  took  fright  and  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Paris  a  horse  of  this  sort  ran  away.  It  was  not  much  of  a 
run,  but  so  amazed  the  driver  that  he  lost  his  head  and  let  the  crazy  animal 
collide  with  one  of  the  trees  in  the  camps  Elysees.  when  the  Tribune  and  the 
officers  were  all  spilled  out. 

The  police  of  Paris  are  world-famous  for  their  efficiency,  and  on  this 
occasion  they  arrested  the  voiture  and  driver  and  marched  them  off,  leaving 
the  officers  and  prisoner  to  find  another  vehicle  to  carry  them  to  the  debtors' 
prison,  known  as  Clichy. 

This  all  occurred  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  I  learned  that  night  the 
meaning  of  it.  It  seemed  that  the  World's  Exposition,  held  in  New  York  a 
few  years  before  this  event,  the  directors,  wishing  to  encourage  the  concern, 
pledged  themselves  to  not  only  return  safely  the  articles  not  sold,  but  pay  for 
transportation  of  the  same.  This  encouraged  a  French  artist  to  send  a  life- 
sized  statue  of  Venus  de  Medicis,  and  whether  in  marble  or  plaster  we  fail 
to  remember.  All  French  artists  indulge  in  Venuses,  and  this  one  came  to 
grief.  The  Exposition  proved  a  failure,  the  transportation  was  not  paid,  and, 
worse  yet,  the  Venus  de  Medicis  had  her  nose  knocked.  Now  the  Venus  in 
Paris  with  a  damaged  nose  is  common,  but  not  attractive,  and  the  indignant 
artist  wanted  pay  for  the  same.  He  did  not  get  pay  to  any  great  extent,  and 
learning  that  Mr.  Greeley,  one  of  the  directors,  was  in  Paris,  the  artistic- 
stone-cutter  had  him  arrested  late  on  Saturday  afternoon,  so  as  to  incarcerate 
him  in  prison  until  Monday  at  least,  believing  that  the  free-born  American 
would  pay  the  amount  rather  than  submit  to  the  outrage.  He  mistook  his 
man. 

We  left  that  little  dinner  party  at  an  early  hour.  We  saw  Judge  Mason 
and  secured  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  imprisoned  journalist.  We  had  an 
interview  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  affairs,  and  I  must  say  for  my  chief, 
that  he  stated  the  case  with  much  earnest  force,  so  much  indeed,  that  Mr. 
Greeley's  release  was  promptly  ordered,  and  on  Monday,  the  able  journalist 
came  out  a  free  man. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

GREELEY  AS  A  FOURIERITE. 

The  Sage  of  Lackawaxen — He  Espouses  the  Philosophy  of  Fourier — What 
That  Means — Socialism  in  America — Greeley  as  its  Great  Apostle — His 
First  Bull  Run — "  On  to  Lackawaxen" — His  Colony  Fails  Miserably  and 
he  Calls  the  Members  hard  Names — Greeley's  Utterances  in  Favor  of 
Communism — His  Discussion  with  Raymond. 

By  no  means  the  least  interesting  part  of  Horace 
Greeley's  life  is  his  experience  as  a  prominent  ad 
vocate  of  Fourierism,  and  a  zealous  laborer  in  the 
work  of  planting  these  unfortunate  colonies,  or 
4'  phalanxes,"  which  began  to  dot  the  country  about 
thirty  years  ago,  and  the  wrecks  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen  in  almost  every  State.  The  story  of 
these  enterprises  would  be  comical  if  it  were  not  so 
sad  a  record  of  credulous,  crack-brained  mortals, 
duped  by  designing  knaves  or  (more  frequently) 
misled  by  others  more  brilliant,  and  also  more 
crack-brained  than  themselves.  - 

GREELEY    THE    FOUNDER   OF  FOURIERISM  IN  AMERICA. 

Early  in  his  journalistic  career,  Mr.  Greeley 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Socialists — they  who 
sought  to  reorganize  society  on  a  far  better  plan 
than  that  which  ±e  Creator  ordained ;  to  abolish, 
in  great  measure,  the  sacred  ties  of  family,  and  to 

(440 


442  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

substitute  the  Community  in  its  place;  to  repeal 
the  natural  laws  which  guarantee  persona!  inde 
pendence  in  the  enterprise  of  accumulating  wealth 
and  spending  it,  and  to  substitute  therefor  a  prin 
ciple  which  Mr.  Greeley  calls  interdependence. 

John  Humphrey  Noyes,  the  leading  apostle  of 
the  Oneida  Community,  a  strictly  free-love  associ 
ation  which  grew  out  of  these  earlier  attempts  at 
Communism,  says  in  his  "  History  of  American 
Socialisms"  [page  14]: 

"  Fourierism  was  introduced  into  this  country  by 
Albert  Brisbane  and  Horace  Greeley  in  1842,  and 
then  commenced  another  great  national  movement 
similar  to  that  of  Owenism,  [a  previously  exploded 
ism\  but  far  more  universal  and  enthusiastic.  Many 
of  them  never  undertook  to  carry  into  practice 
Fourier's  theories  in  full ;  but  they  all  originated 
in  a  common  excitement,  and  that  excitement  took 
its  rise  from  the  publications  of  Brisbane  and 
Greeley." 

WHAT    FOURIERISM    MEANS. 

Before  narrating  (chiefly  from  facts  obtained  in 
Noyes's  book  and  from  a  carefully  prepared  ac 
count  by  A.  J.  MacDonald,  embodied  therei:  )  the 
career  of  Mr.  Greeley  as  a  Fourierite  and  Com 
munist,  we  will  quote  from  Henry  J.  Raymond — a 
man  noted,  in  his  day,  for  fairness  to  his  opponents 
—a  statement  of  the  vital  tenets  of  the  American 
Socialists.  It  is  taken  from  the  concluding  article 
of  a  notable  discussion  which  took  place  in  1846-7 


GREELEY    AS    A*  FOURIERITE.  443 

between  Raymond  and  Greeley,  and  which  was 
printed  in  the  New  York  Times  and  Tribune,  com 
mencing  Nov.  20,  1846.  Mr.  Raymond  says: 

"  We  have  proved,  in  preceding  articles  of  this 
discussion,  that  the  whole  system  of  association  is 
founded  upon,  and  grows  out  of,  the  fundamental 
principle  known  as  the  law  of  passional  attraction. 
The  arguments  by  which  this  position  is  established 
remains  untouched  ;  and  we  shall  not  therefore  re 
peat  it.  In  our  last  article  we  proved  that  in  this 
system  the  law  of  man's  nature  is  made  the  supreme 
rule  of  his  conduct  and  character;  that  it  recog 
nizes  no  higher  law  than  that  of  inclination,  no 
authority  above  that  of  passion  ;  and  of  course  no 
essential  distinction  between  right  and  wrong — no 
standard  of  duty  except  that  of  impulse.  Of  course 
the  idea  of  human  responsibility  is  utterly  de 
stroyed  ;  and  all  the  sanctions  of  moral  and  religi 
ous  truth,  as  derived  from  the  Word  of  God,  are 
abrogated  and  cast  aside.  These  deductions  flow 
inevitably  from  the  law  of  passional  attraction." 

The  inevitable  particular  tendencies  of  the  social 
istic  theory  advocated  by  Mr.  Greeley,  not  only  as 
elaborated  by  Fourier  and  others,  but  as  following 
logically  upon  the  main  principles  avowed  by  Gree 
ley,  are  further  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Raymond  in  his 
concluding  article.  He  shows  how  in  attempting 
to  reform  labor,  by  breaking  down  what  he  calls  the 
monopoly  of  land,  Mr.  Greeley  would  virtually 
throw  all  the  land  into  the  hands  of  a  few  capital 
ists,  and  make  those  less  thrifty  by  nature  their  de- 


444  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

pendent  tenants  and  serfs.  He  shows  how,  in  abol 
ishing  the  isolated  households  which  characterize 
the  natural  condition  of  civilized  society,  and  throw 
ing  everybody  into  droves,  Mr.  Greeley  would  de 
prive  men  and  women  of  that  desire  for  a  comfort 
able  separate  home,  which  constitutes  the  main 
spur  to  industry  and  good  habits.  He  shows  how, 
in  the  communistic  plan  of  taking  children  from  the 
care  of  their  parents  and  nurses,  and  entrusting  the 
community  with  their  education  from  the  first,  a 
deadly  blow  is  struck  at  the  parental  relation  as 
ordained  in  the  Word  of  God.  He  shows  how,  in 
the  abolition  of  the  marriage  relation,  and  leaving 
women  free  from  either  marital  obligation  or  re 
sponsibility  for  the  care  of  their  offspring,  Mr. 
Greeley,  or  those  who  defend  this  communistic  the 
ory,  introduce  mto  society  a  worse  form  of  polyg 
amy,  or  of  that  and  polyandry  combined,  than  has 
ever  been  attempted  in  any  nation  or  any  age  of 
the  world. 

Such  is  a  clear,  cool,  logical  statement  of  the 
doctrines  of  an  order  of  which  Albert  Brisbane 
said :  "  Greeley  has  created  the  cause  in  this 
country." 

THE   TRIBUNE   THE   ORGAN    OF    FOURIERISM. 

How  did  he  do  this?  Let  us  follow  events  in 
their  chronological  order. 

In  1842,  when  Brisbane  and  Greeley  introduced 
Fourierism  into  America,  the  New  York  Tribune 


GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE. 


445 


was  in  its  infancy.  It  was,  as  Mr.  Greeley  is  accus 
tomed  to  call  the  Pennsylvania  iron  mills,  and  the 
New  England  woollen  and  cotton  factories,  a  "strug 
gling"  institution.  A  portion  of  its  space  was  then 
surrendered  to  the  Communists,  who  occupied  it 
daily  with  good  effect — that  is,  good  from  their 
point  of  view.  To  be  sure,  there  was  an  editorial 
explanation  on  the  first  day  of  the  Tribune's  ser 
vice  in  this  cause,  to  the  effect  that  the  proprietors 
of  the  paper  were  not  to  be  held  responsible  for 
what  they  printed  in  these  columns.  But  this  was 
evidently  on  account  of  Mr.  Greeley 's  partner,  Mr. 
McElrath,  as "  it  was  known,"  says  Noyes,  "that 
Greeley  was  much  in  sympathy  with  Fourierism,  so 
that  Brisbane  had  the  help  of  his  popularity" 
with  the  laborers,  whose  organ  the  Tribune 
also  was).  And  the  historian  adds :  "  Whether  the 
Tribune  lifted  Fourierism  or  Fourierism  lifted  the 
Tribune,  may  be  a  matter  of  doubt ;"  but  he  inclines 
to  the  latter  opinion. 

ON    TO    LACKAWAXEN  ! 

In  May,  1843,  we  hear  of  Mr.  Greeley  as  Treas 
urer  of  the  Sylvania  Phalanx,  a  Fourierite  com 
munity,  which  ran  a  brief  and  by  no  means  brilliant 
career  at  Lackawaxen,  Pike  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  which  Thomas  Whitley  was  President.  An 
address  issued  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet,  and 
signed  by  Horace  Greeley,  amongst  others,  con 
tained  the  following  announcement : 

"  This  association  was   formed   early    in   1843  by  a  few   citizens   of  New 
York,  mainly  mechanics,  who,  deeply  impressed  with  the   present  defective, 


446  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

vice-engendering  and  ruinous  system  of  society,  with  the  wasteful  complica 
tion  of  its  isolated  households,  its  destructive  competition  and  anarchy  in  in 
dustry,  its  constraint  of  millions  to  idleness  and  consequent  dependence  or 
famine  for  want  of  employment,  and  its  failure  to  secure  education  and  deveU 
opment  to  the  children  growing  up  all  around  and  amoug  us  in  ignorance 
and  vice,  were  impelled  to  immediate,  energetic  action  in  resistance  to  these 
manifold  and  mighty  evils.  Having  earnestly  studied  the  system  of  indus- 
ttial  organization  and  social  reform  propounded  by  Charles  Fourier,  and  been 
led  to  recognize  in  it  a  beneficent,  expansive  and  practical  plan  for  the  melior 
ation  of  the  condition  of  man  and  his  moral  and  intellectual  elevation,  they 
most  heartily  adopted  that  system  as  the  basis  and  guide  of  their  operations." 

"  Vice-engendering  "  is  a  good  phrase,  especially 
when,  as  a  remedy  for  the  vice-engendering  system, 
Mr.  Greeley  proposed  to  substitute  a  plan  of  social 
organization  which  abolishes  the  home,  and  throws 
the  human  beings  upon  whom  he  experiments  into 
a  promiscuous  boarding-house  in  which  each  works 
for  his  keeping  merely ;  and  in  which  the  only  moral 
law  recognized  is  "passional  equilibrium"! 

Into  this  scheme  about  1 50  persons  were  decoyed 
by  the  Greeley  prospectus  and  by  the  glowing  de 
scription  of  the  "  domain,"  published  in  the  Phal 
anx,  organ  of  the  association,  which  last  repre 
sented  the  said  domain  as  being  handily  accessible, 
and  having  for  soil  "  a  deep  loam,  well  calculated 
for  tillage  and  grazing."  How  the  poor  Lacka- 
waxenites  fared,  and  what  were  the  practical  work 
ings  of  Mr.  Greeley 's  "  beneficent,  expansive  "  sys 
tem,  is  best  told  in  a  dialogue  reported  by  Mr.  Mac- 
Donald,  as  having  been  held  between  C,  an  inqui 
rer  after  wisdom,  and  A.,  a  member  of  the  Phalanx. 

HOW    THE    ''EXPANSIVE    SYSTEM"    WORKED. 

C. — What  were  the  qualifications  of  the  men  who  were  appointed  to  select 
the  location  ?     I  think  this  very  important. 


GREELEV    AS    A    FOURIERITE.  4.47 

A. — One  was  a  landscape  painter,  another  an  industrious  cooper,  and  the 
third  was  a  homoepathic  doctor  ! 

C. — And  not  a  farmer  among  them  !  Well,  this  must  have  been  a  great 
mistake.  At  what  season  did  they  go  to  examine  the  country? 

A. — I  think  it  was  in  March  ;  I  am  sure  it  was  before  the  snow  was  off  the 
ground. 

C. — How  unhappy  are  the  working  classes  in  having  so  little  patience. 
Everything  they  attempt  seems  to  fail  because  they  will  not  wait  the  right 
time.  Had  you  any  capitalists  among  you  ? 

A. — No  ;  they  were  principally  working  people,  brought   up  to  a  city  life. 

C. — But  you  encouraged  capitalists  to  join  your  society  ? 

A. — Our  constitution  provided  for  them  as  well  as  laborers.  We  wished  to 
combine  capital  and  labor,  according  to  the  theory  laid  down  by  Charles 
Fourier. 

************ 

C. — But  about  the  committee  which  you  say  consisted  of  an  artist,  me 
chanic  and  a  doctor  ;  what  report  did  they  make  concerning  the  land  ? 

A. — They  reported  favorably  of  a  section  of  land  in  Pike  County,  Pa.,  con 
sisting  of  about  2,394  acres,  partly  wooded  with  yellow  pine  and  small  oak 
trees,  with  a  soil  of  yellow  loam  without  lime.  It  was  well  watered,  had  an 
undulating  surface,  and  was  said  to  be  elevated  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the 
Hudson  river.  To  reach  it  from  New  York  and  Albany,  we  had  to  take  our 
things  first  to  Rondout,  on  the  Hudson,  and  thence  by  canal  to  Lackawanna ; 
then  five  miles  up  hill  on  a  bad  stony  road.  [In  the  prospectus  the  canal  is 
said  to  be  "  directly  across  from  the  domain."]  There  was  plenty  of  stone 
for  building  purposes  lying  all  over  the  land.  The  soil  being  covered  with 
snow,  the  committee  did  not  see  it,  but  from  the  small  size  of  the  trees,  they 
probably  judged  it  would  be  easily  cleared,  which  would  be  a  great  advantage 
to  city-choppers.  Nine  thousand  dollars  was  the  price  demanded  for  this 
place,  and  the  society  concluded  to  take  it. 

C. — What  improvements  were  upon  it,  and  what  were  the  conditions  of 
sale  ? 

A. — There  were  about  thirty  acres  planted  with  rye,  which  grain,  I  under 
stood,  had  been  successively  planted  upon  it  for  six  years  without  any  manure. 
This  was  taken  as  a  proof  of  the  strength  of  the  soil ;  but  when  we  reaped, 
we  were  compelled  to  rake  for  ten  yards  on  each  side  of  the  spot  where  we 
intended  to  make  the  bundle,  before  we  had  sufficient  to  tie  together.  There 
were  three  old  houses  on  the  place  ;  a  good  barn  and  cow-shed  ;  a  grist-mill 
without  machinery,  with  a  good  stream  for  water-power  ;  an  old  saw-mill, 
with  a  very  indifferent  water-wheel.  These,  together  with  several  skeletons 
of  what  had  once  been  horses,  constituted  the  stock  and  improvements.  We 
were  to  pay  $1,000  down  in  cash  ;  the  owner  was  to  put  in  $1,000  as  stock, 
and  the  balance  was  to  be  paid  by  annual  instalments. 

C. — How  much  stock  did  the  members  take? 


44-8  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

A. — To  state  the  exact  amount  would  be  somewhat  difficult  ;  for  some  who 
subscribed  liberally  at  first,  withdrew  their  subscriptions  while  others  in 
creased  them.  On  examining  my  papers,  I  reckon  that  in  Albany  there  were 
about  $4,500  subscribed  in  money  and  useful  articles  for  mechanical  and 
other  purposes.  In  New  York  I  should  estimate  that  about  $6,000  were  sub- 
cribed  in  like  proportions. 

C. — When  did  the  members  proceed  to  the  domain,  and  how  did  they  pro 
gress  there  ? 

A. — They  left  New  York  and  Albany  for  the  domain  about  the  beginning 
of  May  ;  and  I  find  from  a  table  I  kept  of  the  number  of  persons,  with  their 
ages,  sex  and  occupations,  that  in  the  following  August  there  were  on  the 
place  twenty-eight  married  men,  twenty-seven  married  women,  twenty-four 
single  young  men,  six  single  young  women,  and  fifty-one  children  ;  making  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  individuals.  These  had  to  be  closely 
packed  in  three  very,. indifferent  two-story  frame  houses.  The  upper  story  of 
the  grist-mill  was  devoted  to  as  many  as  could  sleep  there.  These  arrange 
ments  very  soon  brought  trouble.  Children  with  every  variety  of  temper  and 
habits,  were  brought  in  close  contact,  without  any  previous  training  to  pre 
pare  them  for  it.  Parents,  each  with  his  or  her  peculiar  character  and  mode 
of  educating  children,  long  used  to  very  different  accommodations,  were 
brought  here  and  literally  compelled  to  live  like  a  herd  of  animals.  Some 
thought  their  children  would  be  taken  and  cared  for  by  the  society,  as  its 
own  family  ;  while  others  claimed  and  practiced  the  right  to  procure  for  their 
children  all  the  little  indulgences  they  had  been  used  to.  Thus  jealousies  and 
ill-feelings  were  created,  and  in  place  of  that  self-sacrifice  and  zealous  sup 
port  of  the  constitution  and  officers,  to  which  they  were  all  pledged  (I  have 
no  doubt  by  some  in  ignorance),  there  was  a  total  disregard  of  all  discipline, 
and  a  determination  in  each  to  have  the  biggest  share  of  all  things  going' 
except  hard  labor,  which  was  very  unpopular  with  a  certain  class.  Aside 
from  the  above,  had  we  been  carefully  selected  from  families  in  each  city,  and 
had  we  been  found  capable  of  giving  up  our  individual  preferences  to  accom 
plish  the  glorious  object  we  had  in  view,  what  had  we  to  experiment  upon  ? 
In  my  opinion,  a  barren  wilderness  ;  not  giving  the  slightest  prospect  that  it 
would  ever  generously  yield  a  return  for  the  great  sacrifices  we  were  making 
upon  it.  The  land  was  cold  and  sterile,  apparently  incapable  of  supporting 
the  stunted  pines  which  looked  like  a  vast  collection  of  barbers'  poles  upon 
its  surface.  I  will  give  you  one  or  two  illustrations  of  the  quality  of  the  soil : 
We  cut  and  cleared  four  and  a  half  acres  of  what  we  thought  might  be  pro 
ductive  soil ;  and  after  having  plowed  and  cross-plowed  it,  we  sowed  it  with 
buckwheat.  When  the  crop  was  drawn  into  the  barn  and  threshed,  it  yielded 
eleven  and  a-half  bushels.  Again,  we  toiled  hard,  clearing  the  brush  and 
picking  up  the  stones  from  seventeen  acres  of  new  land  :  we  plowed  it  three 
different  ways,  and  then  sowed  and  harrowed  it  with  great  care.  When  the 


GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE.  449 

product  was  reaped  and  threshed,  it  did  not  yield  more  than  the  quantity  of 
seed  planted.  Such  experiences  as  these  made  me  look  upon  the  whole  oper 
ation  as  a  suicidal  affair,  blasting  forever  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  the  few 
noble  spirits  who  tried  so  hard  to  establish  in  practice,  the  vision  they  had 
seen  for  years. 

C. — How  long  did  the  Association  remain  on  the  place  ? 

A. — About  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then  it  was  abandoned  as  rapidly  as  it 
was  settled. 

C. — They  made  improvements  while  there.  What  were  they,  and  who  got 
them  when  the  society  left  ? 

A. — We  cleared  over  one  hnndred  acres  and  'fenced  it  in  ;  built  a  large 
frame-house  forty  feet  by  forty,  three  stories  high ;  also  a  two-story  carpen- 
ter's-shop,  and  a  new  wagon-house.  We  repaired  the  dam  and  saw-mill,  and 
made  other  improvements  which  I  cannot  now  particularize.  These  im 
provements  went  to  the  original  owner,  who  had  already  received  two  thou 
sand  dollars  on  the  purchase  ;  and  (as  he  expressed  it)  he  generously  agreed 
to  take  the  land  back,  with  the  improvements,  and  release  the  trustees  from 
all  further  obligations  ! 

And  MacDonald  adds  to  this  narration,  as  the 
fruit  of  his  observations  and  reflections  upon  the 
subject,  the  following  remarks: 

"  There  were  too  many  children  on  the  place,  their  number  being  fifty-one 
to  eighty-five  adults.  Some  persons  went  there  very  poor,  in  fact,  without 
anything,  and  came  away  in  a  better  condition  ;  while  .others  took  all  they 
could  with  them,  and  came  back  poor.  Young  men,  it  is  stated,  wasted  the 
good  things  at  the  commencement  of  the  experiment ;  and  besides  vic 
tuals,  dry-goods  supplied  by  the  Association  ^were  unequally  obtained.  Idle 
and  greedy  people  find  their  way  into  such  'attempts,  and  soon  show  forth 
their  character  by  burdening  others  with  too  much  labor,  and,  in  times  of 
scarcity,  supplying  themselves  with  more  than  their  allowance,  of  various 
aritcles,  instead  of  taking  less. 

"Where  such  a  failure  as  this  occurs,  many  persons  are  apt  to  throw  the 
blame  upon  particular  individuals  as  well  as  on  the  principles  ;  but  in  this 
case,  I  believe,  nearly  all  connected  with  it  agree  that  the  inferior  land  and 
location  was  the  fundamental  cause  of  ill  success. 

"  It  was  a  loss  to  nearly  all  engaged  in  it.  Those  who  subscribed  and  did 
not  go,  lost  their  shares  ;  and  those  subscribed  and  did  go,  lost  their  valuable 
time  as  well  as  their  shares.  The  sufferers  were  in  error,  and  were  led  into 
the  experiment  by  others,  who  were  likewise  in  error.  Working  men  left 
their  situations,  some  good  and  some  bad,  and,  in  their  enthusiasm,  expected 
not  only  to  improve  their  own  condition,  but  the  condition  of  mankind. 


45O  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

They  fought  the  fight,  and  were  defeated,  Some  were  so  badly  wounded 
that  it  took  them  many  years  to  recover ;  while  others,  more  fortunate, 
speedily  regained  their  former  positions,  and  now  thrive  well  in  the  world 
again.  The  capital  expended  on  this  experiment  was  estimated  at  $14,000." 

This  funeral  sermon  is  corroborated  in  its  sub 
stantial  statements  by  the  Phalanx,  (the  same  paper 
which  had  published  the  rose-colored  description 
of  the  Sylvania  "  domain  "  a  year  before,)  which  in 
announcing  the  failure  and  utter  confusion  of  the 
enterprise,  treated  it  as  due  to  "  the  fact  that  the 
domain  is  located  in  a  thinly  inhabited  region,  cut 
off  almost  entirely  from  a  market  for  its  surplus  pro 
ductions,"  and  that  the  association  had  "become 
satisfied  of  its  inability  to  contend  successfully 
against  an  ungrateful  soil  and  ungenial  climate, 
which  unfortunately  characterize  the  domain  on 
which  it  settled."  The  notice  is  exceedingly  laconic 
for  the  Communists,  who  had  developed  a  great 
fertility  of  words  ;  no  "  ungrateful  soil "  or  "  un 
genial  climate  "  were  their  fermenting  brains.  So 
laconic  indeed  was  the  obituary  of  the  Lackawaxen 
Phalanx  that  there  appears  to  have  been  no  room  in  it 
for  an  invitation  for  the  ruined  Communists  to  "apply 
to  the  Treasurer,  Horace  Greeley,  Esq.,  for  the  re 
turn  of  the  $14,000  cash  sunk  in  the  enterprise"! 
And  yet  such  a  transaction  as  this,  whatever  we 
may  say  of  the  "  passional  equilibrium,"  was  abso 
lutely  necessary  to  the  financial  equilibrium  of  the 
Phalanx. 

WHO    WAS    RESPONSIBLE? 

We  cannot  forbear  making  one  more  quotation 


GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE.  451 

relative  to  the  history  of  this  cruel  experiment.  It 
is  a  reflection  indulged  in  by  one  who  feels  kindly 
toward  Socialism,  but  who  does  not  approve  of  such 
a  reckless  rushing  into  experiments,  with  illy  diges 
ted  plans,  or  such  an  unscrupulous  confidence  game 
as  that  practiced  by  the  agents  of  this  Lackawaxen 
enterprise : 

"  What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  the  rank  and  file  that  formed  themselves  in 
to  phalanxes  and  marched  into  the  wilderness  to  the  music  of  Fourierism? 
Multitudes  of  them,  like  the  poor  Sylvanians,  lost  their  all  in  the  battle.  To 
them  it  was  no  mere  matter  of  theory  or  of  pleasant  propagandism,  but  a 
miserable  'Bull  Run.'  And  surely  there  was  a  great  mistake  somewhere. 
Who  was  responsible  for  the  enormous  miscalculation  of  times  and  forces, 
and  capabilities  of  human  nature,  that  is  manifest  in  the  universal  disaster  of 
the  experiments?  Shall  we  clear  the  generals,  [Greeley,  Whitley,  et  a!.,]  and 
leave  the  poor  soldiers  to  be  called  volunteer  fools,  without  even  the  comfort 
of  being  in  good  company  ?" 

And  yet  this  is  precisely  what  Greeley  called  his 
colonists  in  his  Tribune  not  long  after  the  retreat 
from  Lackawaxen.  He  referred  to  himself,  Whitley, 
and  other  "generals,"  as  "noble,  lofty  souls,"  and  to 
their  unhappy  dupes  as  "  the  conceited,  the  crotch 
ety,  the  selfish,  the  headstrong,  the  unappreciative, 
the  played  out,  the  idle,  and  the  good-for-nothing 
generally,"  upon  whom  the  blame  of  the  failure 
rested!  Here  is  true  charity  for  you !  Here  is  an 
illustration  of  the  practical  philanthropy  of  some 
who  set  themselves  up  as  philanthropists  on  a  grand 
scale ! 

GREELEY    CONTINUES    TO    RECONSTRUCT    MANKIND. 

But  this  disastrous  and    humiliating    experience 

.  did   not    quench    the    fire   of   philanthropy    which 

burned  in  the  breast  of  the  sage  of  Lackawaxen. 


452  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Greeley  was  still  recognized  by  the  Socialists  as  a 
^strong  tower  of  their  system ;  and  at  the  National 
Convention  of  Associationists,  held  at  New  York, 
April  4th,  1844,  ne  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents, 
and  was  re-elected  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Pha 
lanx  newspaper,  (the  Harbinger,  to  which  Greeley 
also  contributed,  having  been  founded  later.)  This 
convention  was  very  much  of  a  love-feast  and  jubi 
lee,  the  order  being  at  the  time  in  the  heyday 
of  its  financial  prosperity.  Among  the  members 
were  Brisbane  and  Greeley,  the  twin  leaders  of  the 
movement;  George  Ripley,  one  of  Greeley 's  edit 
orial  writers  at  the  present  time ;  Charles  A.  Dana, 
who  has  since  developed  into  the  champion  black 
guard  of  America,  but  who  was  then  a  very  devout 
and  self-abnegating  representative  of  the  Brook 
Farm  Phalanx;  and  Parke  Godwin,  who  furnished 
a  remarkably  pious  and  ingenious  address,  attempt 
ing  to  trace  to  the  Bible  the  principles  of  the 
order. 

A    FAMOUS    BANQUET. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th,  the  Convention  had 
a  banquet  at  the  Apollo  Saloon.  Mr.  Greeley 
was  toasted  by  Brisbane  in  a  fervent  speech,  in 
which  the  toaster  said:  "He  [Greeley]  has  done 
for  us  what  we  never  could  have  done.  He  has 
created  the  cause  on  this  continent.  He  has  done 
the  work  of  a  century."  This  extravagant  eulogi- 
um  Mr.  Greeley  accepted  with  a  smile,  and  launched 
out  in  a  speech  wherein  he  said : 


GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE.  453 

"When  I  took  up  this  cause,  I  knew  that  I  went  in  the  teeth  of  many  of 
my  patrons,  in  the  teeth  of  the  prejudices  of  the  great  mass,  in  the  teeth  of 
religious  prejudices  ;  for  I  confess  I  had  a  great  many  more  clergymen  on 
my  list  [no  credit  for  poor  McElrath]  before  than  I  have  now,  as  I  am  sorry  to 
say  ;  for  had  they  kept  on,  I  think  I  could  have  done  them  a  little  good. 
[Laughter.]  But  in  the  face  of  all  this  I  have  gone  on,  pursuing  a  manly, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  circumspect  course,  treading  wantonly  on  no  man's 
prejudice ;  telling,  on  the  contrary,  universal  man,  I  will  defer  to  your  pre 
judices  as  far  as  I  can  consistently  with  my  duty  ;  but  when  duty  leads  me 
you  must  excuse  my  stepping  on  your  corn  if  it  be  in  the  way."  [Cheers.] 

This  speech  is  printed  in  the  official  report  given 
by  the  Phalanx  at  the  time,  and  bears  internal  evi 
dence  of  having  been  written  out  by  Mr.  Greeley 
for  this  purpose.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  philoso 
pher  and  presidential  candidate  avows  very  em 
phatically  his  purpose  to  fly  in  the  teeth  of  the 
prejudices  of  the  great  masses  whenever  he  sees 
fit.  Of  course,  he  at  once  dubs  as  "prejudice"  all 
opposition  to  his  views,  and  proceeds  to  "fly  in  the 
teeth  "  of  the  people,  "tread  on  their  corns,"  etc.,  as 
he  pleases.  This  is  not  the  kind  of  man  whom  the 
people  want  for  President,  especially  since  their  ex 
perience  of  Andrew  Johnson. 

The  day  on  which  this  banquet  was  held  was  the 
anniversary  of  Fourier's  birth-day.  The  regular 
toasts  were  all  to  the  memory  of  this  theorist,  and 
to  the  twelve  several  passions,  which,  according  to 
Fourier,  constitute  the  active  forces  of  human  na 
ture.  The  brethren  became  so  wrought  up  with 
some  of  these  passions  that  after  one  of  the  toasts, 
Mr.  MacDaniel  proposed  that  the  thing  be  repeated 
with  clasped  hands.  "  This  proposition,"  says  the 
Phalanx,  "  was  instantly  accepted,  and,  with  a  burst 


454  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

^ 

of  enthusiasm,  every  man  rose,  and  locking  hands 
all  round  the  table,  the  toast  was  repeated  by  the 
whole  company,  producing  an  electric  thrill  of 
emotion  through  every  nerve"  This  phenomenon 
is  strictly  according  to  Fourier,  who  has  much  to 
say  about  the  passional  effect  of  Touch.  It  is 
doubtless  a  recollection  of  this  thrilling  moment 
which  impels  Mr.  Chas.  A.  Dana,  after  years  de 
voted  to  writing  down  Mr.  Greeley,  to  turn  about 
and  give  him  a  solemn  support  (if  Dana's  advo 
cacy  can  be  called  a  support)  in  his  candidacy  for 
President 

Of  course,  after  such  a  season  of  mutual  admir 
ation  and  "  electric  thrill"  as  this,  the  faithful  band 
returned   to    their  task  of  propagandism  with  re 
doubled  zeal.     Dana   returned  to  "  menial  and  re 
pulsive  work"  at  Brook  Farm,  and  Greeley  straight 
way  indulged  in  another  Phalanx,  and  another  pros 
pectus.     This   was  the   North   American    Phalanx 
which  had  its  location  at  Monmouth,  N.  J.,  about 
forty   miles  from    New   York   city.      Greeley  was 
Vice  President  and  a  large  stockholder.     Special 
efforts  were  made  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  this  phal 
anx  with  true  and  trusty  soldiers,  and  to  weed  out 
with  scrupulous  care   all  "  the  selfish,  the  conceited, 
the  played-out,"  etc.,  whom  their  leader  at  Lacka- 
waxen    had    so    severely    execrated.       But   human 
nature  proved  too  much  for  the  "beneficient  and 
expansive"  system  of  Association,  and  after  eleven 
years  of  trial,  during  which  the  financial  prosperity 
of  the  Communists  had  not  been  bad,  the  members 


GREELEY    AS    A    FOURIERITE.  455 

suddenly  discovered,  with  one  consent,  that  they 
would  prefer  to  return  to  the  "vice-engendering 
systems"  of  civilized  society,  and  the  "wasteful 
complications  of  its  isolated  households." 

Mr.  Greeley 's  demeanor  toward  these  enterprises 
was  characterized  by  the  same  reckless  generosity 
with  money  which  has  been  observed  in  his  private 
life.  The  Philosopher  has  ever  been  ready  to  lend 
a  man  five  dollars,  even  though  he  had  but  four  to 
lend  him.  It  is  imputed  to  him  that,  in  contribut 
ing  material  aid  to  the  struggling  associations,  he 
was  far  more  forward  than  his  fellow  laborer,  Bris 
bane.  In  his  address  to  the  fraternity,  published 
in  the  Harbinger  of  Oct.  25,  1845,  ne  wrote : 

"  Fellow  Associationists  !  I  shall  do  whatever  I 
can  for  the  promotion  of  our  common  cause.  To 
it  whatever  I  have  or  may  hereafter  acquire,  of  pe 
cuniary  ability  is  devoted ;  may  I  not  hope  for  a 
like  devotion  from  you  ?  " 

The  response  does  not  seem  to  have  been  very 
encouraging;  for  the  system,  already  dead  at  the 
core  and  fast  going  to  decay,  continued  to  droop  in 
all  its  branches. 

THE    DISCUSSION    WITH    RAYMOND. 

This  did  not,  however,  deter  Greeley  from  taking 
up  the  cudgels  in  behalf  of  Socialism  whenever 
opportunity  offered.  In  1846  and  '47  occurred  the  fa 
mous  discussion  with  Henry  J.  Raymond,  already 
quoted  from. 

In  the  first  of  his  twelve  articles  of  this  series, 
Mr.  Greeley  contended  that  the  landless  have  an 
27 


456  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

inherent  right  to  their  "due  share"  of  land,  and 
the  right  of  constant  employment ;  and  that  these 
rights  cannot  be  guaranteed  without  a  radical 
change  in  our  social  economy.  In  the  second  he 
outlined  the  system  of  co-operation  by  phalanxes. 
In  the  third  he  unfolded  the  same  fully,  and  enun 
ciated  substantially  the  theory  of  Fourier ;  i.  e., 
common  property,  etc.  And  so  on,  to  the  end  of 
the  last  chapter,  wherein  he  yearned  for  "  the  associ 
ation  of  two  or  three  hundred  families,  after  the 
similitude  of  a  bank  or  a  whale-ship  (!)  inhabiting 
a  common  edifice."  He  "  saw  in  the  benevolent 
movements  of  the  present  time  the  portents  of  a 
good  time  coming.  In  this  faith,"  he  declared,  "  I 
labor  and  live ;  share  it  or  scout  it,  as  you  will. 
Adieu."  And  here  he  appended  those  awe-inspir 
ing  initials,  "  H.  G."  with  which  the  public  has  be 
come  so  familiar. 

It  was  generally  pronounced  that  Raymond  had 
the  better  of  his  antagonist  in  this  discussion;  but 
in  estimating  the  intellectual  merits  of  the  perform 
ance,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Raymond  had 
the  sympathy  of  the  entire  public,  to  begin  with. 

However  well  he  may  have  argued,  he  did  not 
convince  "  H.  G." — that  is  certain ;  for  ten  years 
later  we  find  that  staunch  disputant  still  "flying  in 
the  teeth  of  prejudice,"  and  incontinently  tendering 
a  loan  of  $12,000  to  the  North  American  Phalanx 
— an  offer  which  does  more  credit  to  his  heart  than 
to  his  head,  since  the  Phalanx  was  then  in  the 
throes  of  dissolution,  and  was  soon  sold  out  at  sixty 
cents  on  the  dollar. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GREELEY  AS  A  POLITICIAN. 


His  Political  Life  Characterized — Greeley's  First  Experience  at  "  Relegat 
ing" — The  Tippecanoe  Campaign — The  Clay  Fiasco — "  Isms"  of  the  Philo 
sopher — In  Congress — His  Career  as  a  Legislator — The  Partnership  with 
Sewardand  Weed — Greeley  Indignantly  Withdraws — Cause  of  his  Wrath — 
The  FamousSeward  Letter — Greeley  Favors  Secession — Defeats  Seward  at 
Chicago — The  War  Comes  On — "  Forward  to  Richmond  !" — Thorning  Lin 
coln — The  Cleveland  Convention — "  Anybody  to  Beat  Lincoln" — Greeley 
Winks  at  the  Movement — The  Niagara  Falls  Affair — Greeley  Hobnobs  with 
Bogus  Rebel  Commissioners — Blames  Lincoln  and  Misrepresents  Him — 
Noble  Letter  of  the  Martyr  President — The  War  Ended — Greeley  Does 
go  On  to  Richmond — What  he  Does  There — Indignation  of  the  Public — 
Greeley's  Opinion  of  Himself  and  Other  Presidency-Hunters — Greeley 
and  Tammany. 

Horace  Greeley's  public  career  as  a  politician- 
all  the  while  as  an  influential  writer  and  the  most 
of  the  time  as  an  inside  manager  of  politics — al 
ready  stretches  over  a  period  of  about  thirty-eight 
years,  commencing  with  the  founding  of  the  New 
Yorker  in  1834.  It  did  not,  however,  put  on  that 
very  actice  phase  which  has  for  the  most  part,  char 
acterized  it,  until  the  Presidential  campaign  of 
1840,  when  Harrison  and  Tyler  were  running,  on 
the  Whig  ticket,  against  Van  Buren  and  Johnson. 

(459) 


460  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

The  campaign  was  an  unprecedently  active  one, 
being  known  as  the  Hard  Cider  and  Log  Cabin 
Campaign.  The  canvass  commenced  as  early  as 
the  December  preceding  the  election  —  nearly 
eleven  months  being  thus  allowed  for  "  working  up" 
the  candidates. 

THE    RELEGATING    BUSINESS. 

The  convention  which  nominated  Harrison  took 
place  at  Harrisburg,  and  it,  like  the  campaign,  was 
long  and  bitter.  At  this  convention  recurred  Mr. 
Greeley's  first  experience  at  "relegating"  trouble 
some  questions  to  the  several  localities — something 
which  may  have  struck  our  younger  politicians  as  a 
new  trick  in  politics,  when  introduced  by  Greeley 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  candidacy  at  Cincinnati. 
We  read  in  one  of  the  earliest  issues  of  the  Tri 
bune  an  explanation  of  this  matter,  in  response  to  a 
question  which  had  been  raised  as  to  whether  the 
Whig  party  then  had  any  platform.  It  seems  that 
the  Convention  broke  up  and  went  home  without 
adopting  any  platform  at  all ;  the  Tribune  explaining 
that  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  "  every  thought 
was  turned  to  the  healing  of  disappointments  and 
the  solution  of  a  Vice  President"  [and  the  one 
that  they  elected  proved  soon  that  they  had  better 
turned  more  careful  thoughts  in  that  direction] ; 
and  that  "each  delegation  should,"  on  returning 
home,  "communicate  to  their  constituents  the 
nomination  and  the  reasons  for  sustaining  it  in 
such  manner  as  they  should  think  proper."  It  was 


HORACE    GREELEY.  461 

generally  understood,  however,  that  Mr.  Greeley 
and  his  fellow-zealots  of  the  Whig  faith  were  fight 
ing  mainly  for  a  high  protective  tariff,  a  consoli 
dated  national  bank  in  the  hands  of  a  corporate 
monopoly,  and  under  the  "protection"  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  a  profuse  expenditure  of  national 
funds  for  building  local  improvements,  such  as 
wharves,  railroads,  etc.  Of  the  doctrine  we  have 
nothing  to  say  at  present ;  but  we  call  attention  to 
the  school  of  politics  in  which  the  present  Demo 
cratic  candidate  received  his  first  lessons. 

GREELEY    ON    D.   S.    DICKINSON. 

During  the  early  history  of  the  Tribune,  Gree 
ley  was  at  Albany  a  good  deal,  and  sent  thence 
copious  "  editorial  correspondence"  to  his  paper. 
In  one  of  these  letters  we  read  his  opinion  of 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson — a  man  of  much  nobler  aims 
and  purer  ideas  of  public  management  than  him 
self.  Putting  on  a  sweet  smartness  of  style,  with  a 
little  smattering  of  French  which  he  had  picked  up 
somewhere  and  seemed  anxious  to  air,  our  young 
editor  wrote : 

"  I  hear  that  my  very  sensitive  friend,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  of  Broome 
(familiarly,  Scripture  Dick),  is  a  candidate  for  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney 
General,  or  almost  anything  that  is  comfortable.  I  hardly  credit  it.  Mr. 
Dickinson's  talents  are  rather  of  a  forensic  than  executive  order.  He  ought 
to  go  to  Congress  manifestly  ;  his  peculiar  style  of  oratory  would  create  more 
amusement  than  a  puppet  show,  and  his  words'  would  suffice  at  any  time  to 
still  the  fiercest  words  of  disorder, — the  angriest  burst  of  passion,  at  the  first 
sound  of  his  voice  would  subside  in  a  horse  laugh.  There  was  a  rare  low 
comedian  (the  French  would  say  farceur)  spoiled  when  he  became  a  states 
man.  He  must  not  come  here,  therefore,  but  go  to  Congress." 

The  description  certainly  did  not  fit  Mr.  Dickin 
son.  Would  it  not  fit  Mr.  Greeley  better? 


462  THE  STRUGGLE  OF    J2. 

GOES    TO  CONGRESS. 

In  the  fall  of  1848,  Mr.  Greeley  was  elected  to 
Congress  on  the  same  ticket  with  James  Brooks,  of 
the  Express — Mr.  Greeley  to  serve  out  the  remain 
der  of  a  deceased  member's  term,  which  expired 
on  the  4th  of  March  following,  and  Mr.  Brooks  to 
fill  the  whole  term  succeeding  that^  This  arrange 
ment  does  not  seem  to  have  satisfied  Mr.  Greeley's 
idea  of  what  was  due  him  from  the  party,  or  rather 
the  party  managers,  for  in  the  famous  letter  to 
Governor  Seward,  in  1854,  he  uses  this  language:  "I 
was  once  sent  to  Congress  for  ninety  days,  merely 
to  enable  Jim  Brooks  to  secure  a  seat  therein  for 
four  years.  *  *  *  James  White  (you  hardly 
know  how  good  and  true  a  man  he  is)  started  my 
name  for  Congress,  and  Brooks's  packed  delegation 
thought  I  could  help  him  through,  so  I  was  put  on 
behind  him." 

Greeley's  career  in  Congress  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  very  successful.  He  proposed  measures 
enough,  and  was  especially  active  in  behalf  of  his 
hobby  of  then — abolition  of  mileage — but  never 
got  any  proposition  before  the  House  in  a  way  or 
at  a  time  to  receive  consideration.  At  the  same 
time,  he  was  constantly  berating  his  fellow  mem 
bers  through  his  correspondence  for  the  Tribtme 
—a  course  which  could  not  be  expected  to  concili 
ate  them  toward  him,  or  any  of  his  favorite  meas 
ures.  One  of  his  epistolary  attacks,  of  which  a 
member  named  Rust,  of  Arkansas,  was  the  object, 


HORACE    GREELEY.  463 

brought  that  gentleman  down  upon  Mr.  Greeley 
with  a  cane,  in  a  very  dastardly  attack — the  only 
one,  we  believe,  which  the  philosopher  has  ever 
received,  notwithstanding  he  has  applied  "fighting" 
epithets  to  a  majority  of  his  fellow  citizens,  either 
individually  or  by  class. 

WISHES    TO    BE   GOVERNOR. 

In  1854  Greeley  experienced  one  of  the  severest 
disappointments  of  his  life.  He  then  desired  in 
tensely  the  nomination  of  the  Whigs  for  Governor 
of  New  York,  and  his  failure  to  get  that  nomina 
tion  may  be  said  to  have  embittered  his  political 
life  and  changed  the  whole  future  course  of  the 
Tribune.  His  paper  had,  up  to  this  time,  been  a 
truthful  party  organ,  working  implicitly  for  the 
nominations  of  the  Whig  party ;  but  from  this 
time  it  became  a  habitual  bolter  of  nominations 
and  a  spitter  upon  platforms.  The  anitmts  of  its 
subsequent  course  is  easily  learned  from  the  letter 
which  Mr.  Greeley  addressed  to  Mr.  Seward,  on 
the  iith  of  November,  immediately  following  the 
election  which  assured  Seward's  return  to  the 
Senate. 

Greeley  had,  as  already  mentioned,  desired  the 
nomination  of  the  Whigs  for  Governor.  His  al 
most  Herculean  efforts  in  behalf  of  Whig  prin 
ciples  had,  as  he  urges  in  the  letter  referred  to,  de 
served  some  such  recognition  as  this  from  the  party. 
But  there  were  considerations  which  prevented  his 
nomination — chief  of  which  was  the  almost  abso- 


464  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

lute  certainty  of  his  being  defeated,  and  with  him 
Governor  Seward  for  the  Senate,  if  he  should 
run.  For  ten  years  his  paper  had  been  the  "  organ," 
not  merely  of  the  Whig  party,  but  of  all  the  isms 
which  had  found  lodgment  in  the  big  scraggy  brain 
of  its  editor.  And  whatever  Greeley  had  advo 
cated,  he  had  advocated  in  the  most  belligerent 
and  extreme  fashion,  giving  no  quarter  to  his  op 
ponents,  nor  charity  to  their  motives  or  opinions. 
These  ten  years  had  been  probably  the  most  pro 
lific  period  of  the  Tribunes  history  in  the  develop 
ment  of  isms — the  crop  including  Fourierism, 
Grahamism,  Maine-law-ism,  Spiritualism,  Woman's 
Rights-ism,  (which  Greeley  was  then,  but  not  now, 
disposed  to  favor)  and  an  infinite  number  of  minor 
crotchets  in  which  the  philosopher  indulged,  per 
haps  no  more  than  a  journalist  and  reformer  of  so 
ciety  ought  (several  of  them  he  did  not  fully  adopt — 
only  favoring  them  enough  to  enable  his  opponents 
in  the  press  to  stigmatize  him  with  them),  but  still 
much  more  than  is  advisable  in  a  candidate  for  the 
chief  magistracy  of  a  State  in  which  political  par 
ties  are  balanced  as  evenly  as  the  most  delicately 
poised  scale.  j  On  this  account,  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed, 
the  most  adroit  and  influential  of  Mr.  Seward's 
friends,  waited  upon  Mr.  Greeley  and  urged  him  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  running  for  Governor.  He 
was  successful  in  this,  but  Greeley  added,  "  Sup 
pose  you  try  my  name  for  Lieutenant  Governor, 
and  see  whether  I  am  so  odious." 


HORACE    GREELEY.  465 

When  the  convention  assembled  at  Albany,  it 
was  found  advisable  to  give  the  second  place  upon 
the  Gubernatorial  ticket  to  some  gentleman  whose 
action,  in  an  emergency,  could  be  depended  upon 
more  implicitly  than  that  of  Greeley  could  be.  For 
instance,  Greeley  had  given  notice,  in  the  Tribune* 
that  he  should  support  "  Maine  Law"  candidates 
for  the  legislature,  no  matter  what  their  political 
principles  or  their  general  character.  This  course 
might  easily  throw  the  majority  of  one  branch  of 
the  legislature  into  the  hands  of  the  Democrats, 
(or  "  Locos,"  as  Greeley  then  called  them)  and  de 
feat  Seward,  the  tower  of  strength  of  the  Liberal 
Whigs  and  (as  all  old  citizens  remember)  the 
champion  of  the  anti-slavery  element  of  politics- 
The  result  was  that  Myron  H.  Clark,  a  poor  stick, 
but  a  man  who  happened  to  be  in  favor  with  all 
wings  of  the  party,  was  nominated  for  Governor, 
and  Henry  J.  Raymond,  a  journalistic  rival  of 
Greeley,  was  put  in  nomination  for  Lieutenant 
Governor. 

The  ticket  won ;  but  the  manner  of  making  it 
up  had  proved  the  last  feather  that  broke  the  back 
of  Greeley's  patience,  long  groaning,  it  seems, 
under  real  or  fancied  wrongs.  These  wrongs  con 
sisted  in  the  neglect  of  Seward  to  provide  Greeley 
with  a  fat  office  at  several  opportunities  which  had 
occurred.  These  opportunities  Greeley  mentioned 
in  his  letter,  referred  often  to  his  "  extreme  poverty," 
rebuked  Seward  with  having  been  hard  upon  him 
in  a  judicial  decision  upon  a  libel  case(!)  and  an- 


466  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

nounced  "  the  dissolution  of  the  political  firm  of 
Seward,  Weed  and  Greeley,  by  the  withdrawal  of 
the  junior  partner."  Here  is  one  paragraph  out  of 
his  letter : 

"  Now  (1841)  came  the  great  scramble  of  the  swell  mob  of  coon  minstrels 
and  cider-suckers  at  Washington — I  not  being  counted  in.  Several  regi 
ments  of  them  went  on  from  this  city  ;  but  no  one  of  the  whole  crowd, 
though  I  say  it  who  should  not,  had  done  so  much  toward  General  Harrison's 
nomination  and  election  as  yours  respectfully.  I  asked  nothing — expected 
nothing ;  but  you,  Governor  Seward,  ought  to  have  asked  that  I  be  postmas 
ter  of  New  York.  Your  asking  would  have  been  in  vain;  but  it  would  have 
been  an  act  of  grace  neither  wasted  nor  undeserved." 

The  reader  should  peruse  this  extract  once 
more,  or,  indeed,  read  here  the  whole  letter,  which 
is  found  to  be  a  complaint,  not  because  Seward 
did  not  testify  his  gratitude  to  Greeley  for  what 
few  personal  favors  he  had  received  from  him  (this 
he  admits  the  Governor  did  do,  in  many  profes 
sional  favors  and  other  "acts  of  kindness");  but 
the  complaint  is  that  Seward  did  not  give  him  office. 
Seward,  a  man  of  good  breeding  and  of  conscien 
tious  devotion  to  the  people's  interest,  sought  to 
reward  Greeley  for  his  labors  by  favors  which 
came  from  his  own  pocket  or  his  own  labor — which 
really  testified  by  their  cost  to  the  bestower,  his 
good  will  toward  the  recipient.  Greeley,  on  the 
contrary,  wanted  Seward  to  reward  him  in  the  peo 
ple's  coin — to  bestow  on  him  an  office  which  cost 
the  giver  nothing,  but  which  would  make  the  re 
ceiver  a  pensioner  on  the  public.  Seward  judged 
Greeley,  as  many  verdant  people  have  since  judged 
him,  by  his  protestations  in  the  Tribune,  and 
thought  he  was  above  any  susceptibility  to  the 


HORACE    GREELEY.  467 

allurements  of  a  fat  office.  He  mistook  his  man, 
and  incurred  the  vindictive  opposition  of  one  who 
was  able,  six  years  after,  to  retaliate  at  Chicago  for 
his  imaginary  grievances. 

GREELEY    AT   CHICAGO. 

Greeley  went  to  the  Chicago  convention  of  1860 
with  the  grand  purpose  of  defeating  Seward,  then 
by  far  the  most  prominent  candidate  of  the  Re 
publicans  for  Presidential  nominee.  The  South 
had  already  threatened  secession  in  the  event  of 
the  nation's  refusal  to  extend  slavery  ad  infinitum, 
and  the  issue  had  to  be  met  boldly.  To  meet  it 
thus,  Seward  was  the  man  upon  whom  the  Repub 
licans  of  every  section  felt  they  could  best  depend. 
But  Greeley,  having  obtained  a  seat  as  a  delegate 
from  Oregon  (though  he  was  far  more  influential 
in  the  lobbies  as  a  delegate  from  the  Tribune,  and 
a  supposed  friend  of  Seward,  since  his  letter  of 
1854  had  not  then  been  published,  and  he  was  con 
tinually  asseverating  to  those  whom  he  button 
holed  his  personal  devotion  to  Seward,)  went  to 
work  vigorously  for  Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri— 
a  man  whom  Greeley 's  present  Chicago  organ 
calls  "one  of  the  fossils  of  the  slave  party,"  a  labor 
in  which  he  was  associated,  as  he  now  is,  with 
those  Machiavillis  of  politics,  the  Blair  family. 
The  result  was  the  defeat  of  Seward,  and  the  grat 
ification  of  a  grudge  which  the  ''  magnanimous,"  uni 
versal-amnesty-ranting  philosopher  had  cherished 
within  his  bosom  for  six  long  years.  He  could 


468  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

forgive  in  a  day  the  traitors  who  had  struck  at  the 
heart  of  the  nation,  and  who,  thanks  to  on-to-Rich- 
mond  and  other  like  ^fforts.of  his  own,  had  brought 
woe  into  a  million  loyal  households;  but  he  could 
not  in  a  life-time  forgive  a  man  who  had  failed  to 
name  him  as  Postmaster  of  New  York !  Behold, 
young  man,  ambitious  to  win  a  name  as  a  patriotic 
statesman,  how  fine  a  thing  it  is  to  be  magnani 
mous  on  paper,  in  withholding  the  justice  which 
belongs  to  a  higher  authority,  and  at  the  same  time 
wreak  all  your  own  private  revenges  in  the  stolen 
name  of  that  same  authority ! 

HE    FAVORS    SECESSION. 

In  securing  by  such  means  the  nomination  of 
Lincoln,  Mr.  Greeley  builded  better  than  he  knew. 
It  is  one  of  those  cases  in  which  the  Lord  hath 
made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him.  The  South 
ern  States  seceded,  encouraged  thereto,  as  their 
statesmen  claim,  by  the  utterances  of  Greeley's 
Tribune,  and  their  belief,  founded  thereon,  that 
there  was  a  large  party  of  political  free-thinkers  at 
the  North  who  sympathized  with  Greeley  in  the 
views  expressed  in  the  following  extracts  : 

[From  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  November  9,  1859.] 
"If  the  cotton  States  shall  become  satisfied  that  they  can  do  better  out  of 
the  Union  than  in  it,  we  insist  in  letting  them  go  in  peace.  The  right  to 
secede  may  be  a  revolutionary  one,  but  it  exists  nevertheless.  *  *  *  We 
must  ever  resist  the  right  of  any  State  to  remain  in  the  Union  and  nulify 
and  defy  the  laws  thereof. 

"To  withdraw  from  the  Union  is  quite  another  matter ;  and  whenever  a 
considerable  section  of  our  Union  shall  deliberately  resolve  to  go  out,  we 
shall  resist  all  coercive  measures  to  keep  them  in  it.  We  hope  never  to  live 
in  a  Republic  where  one  section  is  pinned  to  another  by  bayonets." 


HORACE    GREELEY.  469 

[From  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  November  26,  1859.] 
"If  the  cotton  States  unitedly  and  earnestly  wish  to  withdraw  peacefully 
from  the  Union,  we  think  they  should  be  allowed  to  do  so.  Any  attempt  to 
compel  them  by  force  to  remain  would  be  contrary  to  the  principles  enunci 
ated  in  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence — contrary  to  the  funda 
mental  ideas  on  which  human  liberty  is  based." 

GREELEY    AS    A    MILITARY    COMMANDER. 

Next  in  chronological  order,  of  Mr.  Greeley's 
disastrous  attempts  to  run  the  United  States  gov 
ernment,  was  his  "  On-to-Richmond"  fiasco  of  July, 
1 86 1.  The  circumstances  of  that  heart-sickening 
affair  are  too  well  known  to  the  public  to  need  re- 
pitition  here.  He  had  been  thorning  the  Govern 
ment  for  weeks  to  order  an  advance  upon  the 
Rebel  capital.  Of  course  he  knew  nothing  about 
the  military  situation  or  about  military  maxims  or 
military  possibilities ;  but  he  had  a  crotchet  in  his 
head,  he  had  the  ear  of  the  public,  and  he  could 
not  refrain  from  acting  upon  his  impulse  to  dictate 
upon  all  questions  which  engaged  his  interest.  Ac 
cordingly,  )he  kept  urging,  in  labored  editorials,  a 
speedy  advance  upon  Richmond,  before  the  Union 
army  had  been  drilled  or  fairly  organized.  In  ad 
dition  to  these  leaders,  he  kept  up  the  following 
cry  from  day  to  day — the  paragraph  being  reiter 
ated,  word  for  word,  in  successive  issues  of  the 
Tribune,  set  in  italics  and  capitals : 

"THE  NATION'S  WAR  CRY. 

"  Forward  to  Richmond  !  Fonvard  to  Richmond  !  The  Rebel  Congress  miist  not 
be  allowed  to  meet  there  on  the  iQth  July!  BY  THAT  DATE  THE 
PLACE  MUST  BE  HELD  BY  THE  NATIONAL  ARMY  !" 

On  the  i6th  of  July,  mainly  in  obedience  to  this 


470 

clamor,  the  Union  army  was  set  in  motion.  The 
terribly  disastrous  result  is  well  known.  How 
many  thousand  lives,  how  many  millions  of  treasure 
it  cost  us,  no  one  can  tell ;  but  all  admit  that  the 
war  was  greatly  prolonged  and  made  greatly  more 
burdensome  by  the  disastrous  defeat  of  Bull  Run. 
Most  military  men  are  of  opinion  that  if  a  battle 
could  have  been  won  in  Virginia  that  fall,  instead 
of  the  utter  rout  which  did  occur,  the  war  would 
have  been  closed  without  calling  out  one-quarter 
of  the  troops  that  were  used,  and  with  one-tenth 
of  the  loss  of  life  that  did  occur. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i7th  of  July,  1861,  the 
Tribune,  elated  with  the  idea  that  its  military  policy 
had  been  enforced  upon  the  Government,  assured 
the  country  that  victory  was  certain,  and  the  Con 
federacy  about  to  gasp  its  last.  "  This  day,"  it  said, 
"  is  to  have  important  results.  *  *  *  Where 
the  victory  will  rest,  there  can  be  no  doubt."  In  a 
few  days  more  the  editor  of  the  Tribune,  cringing 
under  the  public  indignation  which  his  "  Forward 
to  Richmond"  cry  and  its  lamentable  result  had 
worked,  was  seeking,  in  a  personal  card,  to  fasten 
the  blame  upon  his  subordinates.  "  Still,"  he  said, 
"  I  wish  to  be  distinctly  understood  as  not  seeking 
to  be  released  from  any  responsibility  for  urging  the 
advance  of  the  Union  army  into  Virginia."  And 
the  public,  after  hearing  his  defence,  with  its  whin- 
ning  plaint  that  if  some  one  must  die  to  appease 
the  popular  rage,  it  might  as  well  be  himself  as  any 
body,  concluded  not  to  release  him.  They  have, 


HORACE    GREELEY.  471 

perhaps  with  too  impetuous  justice,  held  him  re 
sponsible  for  that  disaster  to  this  day ;  and  their 
natural  arrangement,  when  it  comes  to  voting  upon 
Mr.  Greeley's  application  for  the  Presidency,  will 
be  this:  those  who  rejoiced  at  the  result  of  Bull 
Run  will  vote  for  Greeley ;  those  who  lamented 
that  result  will  vote  against  him. 

Views  like  those  cited  from  the  Tribune  on  page 
468  were  reiterated  by  Greeley  at  intervals  during 
the  war,  and  served,  like  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  a 
dishonorable  peace,  to  stimulate  in  the  breasts  of 
the  Rebels,  a  belief  that  the  Northerners  were 
weakening  in  their  determination  to  enforce  the 
Union.  "  The  pro-slavery  Democrats  we  have  on 
our  side  anyway,"  they  argued  with  themselves; 
"if  we  have  also  the  Radical  abolitionists  repre 
sented  by  the  Tribune,  we  can  certainly  hold  out 
and  whip  them  yet."  And  so  more  blood,  more 
blood,  more  blood  was  poured  out. 

DICTATING    TO    LINCOLN. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  Greeley  led  in  a  grand 
attack  upon  Lincoln,  because  he  had  not  yet  got 
ready  to  launch  his  policy  of  Emancipation.*  He 
was  more  anxious  than  they  to  destroy  slavery; 
but  he  knew  when  the  military  situation  would  en 
able  him  to  enforce  such  a  policy — they  didn't.  In 

*  A  correspondence  which  took  place  between  Lincoln  and  Greeley  concern- 
ing  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes  may  be  found  in  Raymond's  Life  and 
Letters  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  in  McPherson's  History  of  the  Rebellion  ; 
but  Greeley  in  his  American  Conflict,  and  in  his  (Parton's)  biography,  garbles 
his  own  letter  fearfully,  since  certain  passages  of  it  read  badly  in  the  light  of 
subsequent  events. 


472  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

good  time  the  proclamation  came.  Then  Greeley 
refrained  from  his  turbulent  criticism  for  awhile, 
especially  as  1863  was  a  year  of  overwhelming 
Republican  victories,  showing  that  the  people  held 
the  Administration  in  high  esteem. 

The  spring  and  summer  of  1864  appear  to  have 
been  a  very  uncomfortable  period  in  Mr.  Greeley 's 
political  career.  A  Presidential  campaign  was  com 
ing  on ;  Greeley  was,  as  usual,  fretting  arid  fuming 
for  a  change  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  people  were 
so  determined  to  fight  it  out  under  the  leader 
whom  they  then  had,  that  they  would  tolerate 
scarcely  a  word  in  opposition  to  "  Old  Abe."  Never 
theless,  Mr.  Greeley  found  courage  to  slip  into  the 
Tribune  sly  inuendos  against  the  administration  of 
Lincoln,  and  to  cherish  tenderly  the  movement  for 
an  independent  nominiation  at  Cleveland.  He 
secretly  favored  that  operation  of  his  present  part 
ner,  Gratz  Brown,  his  fellow  Communist  Cluseret 
and  other  hot-heads  and  sore-heads  of  the  period, 
and  when  the  Convention  came  off  he  published 
their  bombastic  Address  in  large  type  in  the 
Tribune,  with  some  kind  words  in  its  behalf.  A 
meeting  was  held  at  Cooper  Institute,  New  York, 
on  the  1 3th  of  May,  against  Greeley's  solemn  ad 
vice,  and  addressed  by  Governor  Oglesby  and  Hon. 
I.  N.  Arnold,  of  Illinois,  Senator  Doolittle  and 
others,  whose  speeches  favored  the  nomination  of 
Lincoln.  Its  proceedings  were  totally  ignored — 
the  Tribune,  notwithstanding  that  journal  had  room 
on  the  same  day  for  an  elaborate  report  of  a  "dress 


HORACE    GREELEY.  473 

reform"  convention,  on  the  morning  when  it  should 
have  reported  this  meeting. 

ANYBODY    TO    BEAT    LINCOLN. 

After  it  was  found  that  the  Cleveland  convention 
was  a  flat  failure,  the  anti-Lincoln  factionists,  look 
ing  to  Greeley  as  their  most  valued  sympathizer, 
cast  about  for  a  candidate  more  available  than 
Fremont,  and  fixed  upon  Grant,  then  in  the  Wilder 
ness,  as  their  man.  ("  The  man  on  horseback"  was 
not  so  objectionable  an  idea  to  Greeley  then  as  it 
seems  to  be  now.)  They  appointed  a  meeting,  to 
be  held  in  New  York  a  few  days  before  the  Re 
publican  convention  was  to  be  held  at  Baltimore, 
and  intended  to  develop  such  a  feeling  of  enthusi 
asm  for  Grant  as  could  be  used  upon  the  national 
assembly  of  Republicans — Greeley  had  not  then  in 
vented  his  great  device  of  calling  them  "  Renomi- 
nationists"  to  force  the  nomination  of  Grant,  in 
stead  of  Lincoln.  This  meeting  was  held,  and"  its 
callers  had  the  temerity  to  invite  Lincoln  himself  to 
attend.  That  noble  statesman  wrote  a  generous 
letter  closing  in  a  manner,  which  shows  that  he  ap 
prehended  the  object  of  the  meeting.  It  was  to 
this  effect :  "  I  trust  that  your  meeting  will  be  a  suc 
cess  in  developing  an  expression  of  the  gratitude 
which  is  due  so  brave  and  skillful  a  commander; 
and  that  you  will  so  shape  your  good  words  that 
they  will  turn  to  men  and  guns  marching  to  his 
(Grant's)  aid  in  the  field." 

The  result  of  the  meeting  was  not  satisfactory  to 

28 


474  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

the  malcontents.  A  great  many  speeches  eulogis 
tic  of  Grant  were  made,  but  they  were  equally 
strong  in  behalf  of  sustaining  the  existing  policy  of 
the  national  government  that  they  could  not  be 
used  at  Baltimore,  especially  as  Grant  himself  had 
caused  it  to  be  understood  that  he  would,  on  no 
account,  be  used  for  any  such  purpose  as  the  engi 
neers  of  this  meeting  contemplated. 

The  "  Renominationists"  met  at  Baltimore  and 
endorsed  Lincoln,  in  effect,  unanimously.  The 
people  proved  to  be  Renominationists  too,  and  Lin 
coln  was  chosen  by  the  largest  popular  and  elect 
oral  majorities  ever  recorded.  But  Greeley  did  not 
allow  this  glorious  result  to  be  brought  about  with 
out  resorting  to  every  device  in  his  power  to  pre 
vent  it.  On  the  morning  after  the  nominations 
had  been  announced.  Greeley  had  remarked  in  his 
paper : 

"  We  cannot  but  feel  that  it  would  have  been  wiser  and  safer  to  spike  the 
most  serviceable  guns  of  our  adversaries  by  nominating  another  for  President 
and  thus  dispelling  all  motives  save  that  of  naked  disloyalty,  for  further  war 
fare  upon  this  Administration.  We  believe  the  Rebellion  would  have  lost 
something  of  the  cohesion  and  venom  from  the  hour  in  which  it  was  known 
that  a  new  President  would  surely  be  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March  next, 
etc." 

He  continued  to  intrigue  against  the  Republican 
nominations  during  the  summer.  First,  it  was 
proposed,  with  infinite  braggadocia,  to  have  both 
Lincoln  and  Fremont  withdrawn  (and  Fremont, 
glad  to  get  out  of  the  scrape  with  any  show  of 
grace,  soon  did  so) ;  then,  on  the  2d  of  September, 
finding  Lincoln  still  in  the  field,  in  spite  of  the 
probs  of  the  Tribune  quill  and  the  disgraceful  and 


HORACE    GREELEY.  475 

damaging  operations  at  Niagara  Falls  (to  be  men 
tioned  below),  Greeley  addressed  the  following  let 
ter  to  the  Governors  of  the  loyal  States  (a  call  for 
500,000  troops  being  then  but  partially  answered) : 

NEW  YORK,  Sept.  2,  1864. 

Hon.  : 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  The  undersigned  have  been  requested  by  a  body 
of  influential  Unionists  to  communicate  with  the  loyal  Governors  for  the 
purpose  of  eliciting  replies  to  the  following  queries : 

1.  In  your  judgment,  is  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  a  probability? 

2.  In  your  judgment,  can  your  own  State  be  carried  for  Mr.  Lincoln  ? 

3.  In  your  judgment,  do  the  interests  of  the   Union  party,  and  so  of  the 
country,    require    the    substitution   of    another  candidate  in   place  of    Mr. 
Lincoln? 

In  these  queries,  we  give  no  opinion  of  our  own,  and  request  yours  only 
for  the  most  private  and  confidential  use. 
Yours  truly, 

HORACE  GREELEY, 
Editor  of  the  Tribune,  (and  two  others.) 

This  device  failed  entirely,  except  as  it  may  have 
served  to  retard  the  recruiting  of  troops  in  some 
of  the  States.  If  the  answers  to  this  letter  had 
afforded  any  encouragement  to  their  purpose,  there 
is  no  telling  what  new  coup  d'  etat  this  "influential 
body  of  Unionists"  might  have  sprung  upon  the 
country. 

GREELEY'S  NIAGARA  FALLS  EXPLOIT. 

It  was  during  the  summer  of  1864,  about  a  month 
after  Lincoln  had  been  renominated,that  Greeley— 
pretending  to  be  friendly  to  the  President — attempt 
ed  to  draw  him  into  a  proposition  to  the  Rebel  Gov 
ernment  for  peace.  We  will  give  the  history  of 
this  operation  of  Greeley's  in  the  language  of  an 
other,  who  has  epitomized  it  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  our  purpose : 


476  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  72. 

So  late  as  the  23d  day  of  February,  1864,  he  reiterated  in  the  New  York 
Tribune*  in  this  language,  his  views  concerning  the  right  of  the  South  to 
secede : 

"We  have  repeatedly  said,  and  we  once  more  insist,  that  the  great  principle 
embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  governments 
derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  is  sound  and  just, 
and  that  if  the  slave  States,  the  cotton  States,  or  the  Gulf  States  only,  choose 
to  form  an  independent  nation,  they  have  a  clear,  moral  right  to  do  so.  * 
*  *  Whenever  it  shall  be  clear  that  the  great  body  of  the  Southern  peo 
ple  have  become  conclusively  alienated  from  the  Union,  and  anxious  to  escape 
from  it,  we  will  do  our  best  to  forward  their  views." 

Recognized  by  the  South  as  a  leading  Republican,  it  is  not  strange  that 
Mr.  Greeley  should  be  regarded  by  them  as  the  most  fitting  person  to  whom 
to  address  peace  propositions.  His  views  differed  in  no  essential  particular 
from  theirs.  Every  failure  of  the  Union  armies  was  continually  magnified 
by  him.  His  views  of  the  situation  were  most  gloomy  and  despondent,  and 
he  took  good  care  that  through  the  columns  of  his  paper  they  should  be 
widely  circulated.  Early  in  July,  1864,  correspondence  was  opened  with 
Mr.  Greeley  by  an  irresponsible  and  half  crazy  adventurer  known  as  "Color 
ado  Jewett."  On  the  5th  of  July,  Jewett  writes  Greeley,  in  reply  to  a  note 
previously  received  from  him,  in  which  he  says  :  "  I  am  authorized  to  state  to 
you,  for  our  use  only,  not  the  public,  that  two  embassadors  of  Davis  &  Co. 
are  now  in  Canada,  with  full  and  complete  powers  for  a  peace,  and  Mr.  San 
ders  requests  that  you  come  on  immediately  to  me  at  Cataract  House,  to 
have  a  private  interview,  or  if  you  will  send  the  President's  protection  for 
him  and  two  friends  they  will  come  on  and  meet  you." 

On  the  next  day  Jewett  telegraphed  Greeley  as  follows : 

"Will  you  come  here?     Parties  have  full  power." 

On  the  yth  of  July  Greeley  inclosed  Jewett's  letter  and  telegram  to  the 
President,  accompanied  by  a  letter  of  his  own,  in  which  occurs  this  remark 
able  passage : 

"And,  therefore,  I  venture  to  remind  you  that  our  bleeding,  bankrupt,  almost 
dying  country,  also  longs  fot  peace,  shudders  at  the  prospect  of  fresh  conscrip 
tion,  of  fut  the*  wholesale  devastation,  and  of  new  river  of  human  blood;  and 
a  widespread  conviction  that  the  government  and  its  prominent  supporters  are 
not  anxious  for  peace,  and  do  not  improve  proffered  opportunities  to  achieve  it, 
is  doing  great  harm  now,  and  is  morally  certain,  unless  removed,  to  do  far  greater 
in  the  approaching  elections" 

[In  this  letter  were  also  embodied  the  terms  on 
which  Greeley  proposed  to  effect  a  peace.  Among 
these  conditions  were  the  payment  of  $400,000,000 
to  the  Slave  States,  rebel  and  loyal  alike,  for  the 


HORACE    GREELEY.  479 

value  of  slaves  emancipated,  and  the  concession  to 
them  of  the  right  to  be  represented  in  Congress 
according  to  their  "total,  instead  of  their  federal 
population."  The  bonds  for  the  $400,000,000  were 
to  be  paid  over  to  each  State  "  upon  the  ratification 
by  its  legislature  of  this  adjustment !"] 

"To  this  letter  Mr.  Lincoln  at  once,  on  the  gth  of  July,  replied,  saying  to 
Greeley :  "  If  you  can  find  any  person,  anywhere,  professing  to  have  any 
proposition  of  Jefferson  Davis,  in  writing,  for  peace,  embracing  the  restor 
ation  of  the  Union  and  abandonment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  it  embraces, 
say  to  him  he  may  come  to  me  with  you,  and  that  if  he  really  brings  such 
proposition,  he  shall  at  the  least  have  safe  conduct  with  the  paper  (and  with 
out  publicity  if  he  chooses)  to  the  point  where  you  shall  have  met  him.  The 
same  if  there  be  two  or  more  persons." 

"  On  the  loth  of  July,  Greeley  wrote  the  President  suggesting  that  the 
rebel  envoys  would  decline  to  exhibit  their  credentials  to  him,  and  on  the 
1 3th  advised  the  President  that  he  then  had  information  on  which  he  could 
rely,  that  Clay  and  Thompson  were  then  in  Canada,  duly  commissioned  and 
empowered  to  negotiate  for  peace. 

"  Hearing  nothing  further  from  Greeley,  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  I5th,  wrote 
him  that  he  had  sent  Mr.  Hay,  his  private  Secretary,  to  him,  and  said  to 
him  :  '  I  am  disappointed  that  you  have  not  already  reached  here  with  those 
commissioners.  If  they  would  consent  to  come  on  being  shown  my  letter  to 
you  of  the  igth  inst.,  show  that  and  this  to  them,  and  if  they  will  come  on 
the  terms  stated  in  the  former,  bring  them.  I  not  only  intend  a  sincere  ef 
fort  for  peace,  but  I  intend  that  you  shall  be  a  personal  witness  that  it  is 
made.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  reached  New  York  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  met  Greeley, 
who  promised  to  start  on  his  mission  immediately  if  he  could  have  an  abso 
lute  safe  conduct  for  four  persons  to  be  named  by  him,  whereupon,  under  the 
direction  of  the  President,  Hay  wrote  for  the  safe  conduct,  and  Greeley 
started  for  Niagara  Falls.  Arriving  there  on  the  iyth,  he  addressed  a  note 
to  the  supposed  rebel  commissioners,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  had  been  in 
formed  that  they  are  duly  accredited  from  Richmond  as  the  bearers  of  propo 
sitions  looking  to  the  establishment  of  peace,  and  that  they  desired  to  visi1 
Washington  in  fulfillment.  He  then  adds  :  '  If  my  information  be  thus  far 
substantially  correct,  I  am  authorized  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  tender  you  his  safe  conduct  on  the  journey  proposed,  and  to  accompany 
you  at  the  earliest  time  that  will  be  agreeable  to  you.' 

"THE    NEGOTIATIONS    FAIL. 

"  And  here  occurred  the  first  hitch  in  these  extraordinary  negotiations. 


480  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

The  only  assurance  that  Greeley  ever  had   that   these  gentlemen  were  duly 

accredited  from  Richmond,  or  possessed  any  authority  whatever  to  negotiate 

for  peace,   he  derived   through  Colorado  Jewett.     In  answer  to  this  letter 

these  rebel  gentlemen  informed  Mr.  Greeley  that  they  had  not  been  accredited 

/  from  Richmond,  but  they  thought  that  they  might  be.     The  substance  of  this 

/   letter  Greeley  telegraphed  to  the  President,  who  sent  by  the  hand  of  Major 

Hay  this  celebrated  paper : 

"  To  whom  it  may  concern  : — Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restor 
ation  of  peace,  the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union  and  the  abandonment  of 
slavery,  and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the 
armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will  be  received  and  considered 
by  the  executive  government  of  the  United  States,  and  will  be  met  by  liberal 
terms  on  substantial  and  collateral  points,  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof 
shall  have  safe  conduct  both  ways." 

On  the  2Oth  of  July,  accompanied  by  Greeley,  Maj.  Hay  delivered  this 
document  to  Prof.  Holcombe,  one  of  the  supposed  rebel  commissioners.  No 
reply  was  vouchsafed  to  Mr.  Hay  ;  Greeley  at  once  returned  to  New  York, 
and  a  most  elaborate  reply  was  sent  to  him  through  the  irrepressible  Jewett. 

In  this  reply,  with  great  force  of  statement,  the  President  was  charged 
with  a  sudden  and  entire  change  of  views  ;  the  rebel  envoys  insisted  that 
having  been  assured  at  the  outset  that  the  safe  conduct  for  which  they  applied 
would  be  granted  without  conditions,  veiy  properly  complained  that  the  paper 
handed  them  was  a  clear  violation  of  any  such  assurance,  and  adjured  their 
Southern  brethren  to  fight  to  the  death,  rather  than  submit  to  such  insults. 

AND    GREELEY    PREVARICATES. 

The  paper  addressed  "  To  whom  it  may  concern,"  and  the  reply  to  it  were  at 
once  published,  together  with  the  statement  that  Greeley  "  regrets  the  sad 
termination  of  the  initiatory  steps  taken  for  peace  in  consequence  of  the 
change  made  by  the  President  in  his  instructions  to  convey  commissioners  to 
Washington  for  negotiations  unconditionally."  The  administration  was  thus 
placed  clearly  in  the  wrong,  and  incalculable  mischief  was  worked  both 
North  and  South. 

The  other  portions  of  the  correspondence  which  I  have  read  to  you  were 
not  then  published,  and  the  country  knew  nothing  of  its  existence.  The 
attitude  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  thus  placed  was  that  of  an  Executive  in 
the  interests  of  peace,  offering  unconditionally  safe  conduct  to  the  rebel 
commissioners,  and  then  suddenly  withdrawing  his  officer  and  substituting 
unheard  of  and  unanticipated  conditions.  This  impression  was  false — utterly 
and  altogether  false.  Horace  Greeley  knew  that  it  was  false.  He  knew  that 
the  prevalence  of  any  such  false  impression  must  result  in  serious  injury  to 
the  Union  cause.  He  knew  that  the  terms  proposed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  were 
those  which  he  had  himself  proposed  at  the  very  outset  of  the  correspond 
ence.  He  knew  that  the  first  letter  addressed  to  him  by  the  President, 


HORACE   GREELEY.  481 

placed  any  peace  negotiations  upon  the  basis  of  restoration  of  the  Union 
and  the  abandonment  of  slavery.  He  knew  that  the  President  had  requested 
him  to  exhibit  that  letter  to  any  one  holding  the  position  of  Confederate 
commissioner,  and  that  any  negotiations  were  based  upon  the  readiness  of 
the  rebels  to  treat  on  those  terms.  He  knew  that  a  word  from  him  would 
relieve  the  President  of  the  serious  charges  made  against  him,  would 
strengthen  his  administration  and  the  Union  cause,  and,  yet  he  failed  to 
speak  that  word.  Nay,  more.  He  not  only  suppressed  the  truth,  but  he 
stated  in  the  interests  of  self-constituted  rebel  negotiators,  and  against  the 
Union,  an  unequivocal  falsehood,  wilfully,  wickedly  and  deliberately. 

He  stated  that  the  negotiations  had  terminated  in  consequence  of  the 
change  made  by  the  President  in  his  instructions,  when  he  knew  that  there 
had  been  no  change  whatever,  and  that  those  negotiations  had  disgracefully 
failed  merely  because  he  had  failed  to  communicate  to  his  rebel  friends  pre 
cisely  what  the  President  desired  at  the  outset  they  should  know,  to  wit,  the 
terms  upon  which  propositions  for  peace  would  be  considered.  He  misre 
presented  the  facts  to  the  President  when  he  assured  him  that  he  had  reliable 
information  that  the  rebel  commissioners  were  duly  authorized  to  treat  for  peace. 
He  had  no  such  information,  and  such  was  not  the  fact.  He  deceived  and 
misled  his  rebel  friends  when  he  told  them  that  he  was  authorized  by  the 
President  to  tender  them  safe  conduct  to  Washington  to  negotiate  for  peace. 
He  had  no  such  authority,  except  that  they-were  willing  to  negotiate  on  the 
basis  of  a  restored  Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Thus  he  deceived 
and  misled  both  sides,  and  to  cap  the  climax  refused  to  permit  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  place  himself  right  before  the  country.  The  President  requested  that  the 
whole  correspondence  be  published,  except  those  portions  of  Mr.  Greeley's 
letter  where  he  spoke  of  our  bleeding,  bankrupt  and  almost  dying  country, 
the  publication  of  which,  at  that  time,  Mr.  Lincoln  urged  would  do  injury  to 
the  cause,  and  was  not  necessary  to  understand  the  correspondence,  but  this 
concession  Horace  Greeley  obstinately  refused  to  make.  Abraham  Lincoln, 
rather  than  add  one  particle  to  the  burdens  which  were  then  weighing  down 
the  public  heart,  preferred  to  suffer  himself — preferred  that  the  country 
should  misjudge  him,  and  the  correspondence  was  not  published  until  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  when  Horace  Greeley's  white-livered  complaints  could 
work  no  harm. 

The  passages  which  Mr.  Lincoln  wished  expunged 
from  the  correspondence  on  publishing  it  were,  the 
ones  quoted  above  (in  italics)  from  Greeley's  letter 
of  July  7th  ;  another  in  the  same  letter,  saying,  "  it 
may  save  us  from  a  Northern  insurrection ; "  and 
one  or  two  others,  wherein  a  coming  election  in 


482  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

North  Carolina  is  hinted  at  as  the  objective  point 
of  the  negotiations.  It  will  be  perceived  that  there 
was  nothing  in  Lincoln's  requirements  which  was 
really  prejudicial  to  Greeley,  and  the  only  conclu- 
clusion  is  that  the  latter  stood  out  for  unworthy 
reasons,  making  the  really  patriotic  conditions  im 
posed  by  Lincoln  merely  a  pretext  for  not  consent 
ing  to  the  publication.  No  patriot  can  read  with 
out  emotion  the  fac  simile  autograph  copy  of  the 
private  letter  which  Lincoln  wrote  to  his  friend, 
Henry  J.  Raymond,  at  this  time,  and  which  is  pub 
lished  in  the  "Life  of  Lincoln"  by  that  gentleman 
already  referred  to.  It  is  as  follows: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Aug.  15,  1869. 
HON.  HENRY  J.  RAYMOND  : 

My  Dear  Sir : — I  have  proposed  to  Mr.  Greeley  that  the  Niagara  corres 
pondence  be  published,  suppressing  only  the  parts  of  his  letters  over  which 
the  red  pencil  is  drawn  in  the  copy  which  I  herewith  send.  He  declines 
giving  his  consent  to  the  publication  of  his  letters  unless  these  parts  be 
published  with  the  rest.  I  have  concluded  that  it  is  better  for  me  to  submit 
for  the  time  to  the  consequences  of  the  false  position  in  which  he  has  placed 
me,  than  to  subject  the  country  to  the  consequences  of  publishing  these 
discouraging  and  injurious  parts.  I  send  you  this,  and  the  accompanying 
copy,  not  for  publication,  but  merely  to  explain  to  you,  and  that  you  may 
preserve  them  until  their  proper  time  shall  come. 

Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

A    HOME    THRUST    FROM    GRANT. 

So  much  for  the  disgraceful  peace  negotiations. 
We  will  only  add,  as  supplementary  to  this  state 
ment  and  to  that  of  Greeley 's  letter  to  the  loyal 
Governors,  a  dispatch  from  Grant,  of  nearly  even 
date  with  the  latter  document : 


HORACE    GREELEY.  483 

CITY  POINT,  September  13,  1864, 

IO:3O,    A.  M. 

Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

We  ought  to  have  the  whole  number  of  men  called  for  by  the  President  in 
the  shortest  possible  time.  Prompt  action  in  filling  our  armies  will  have 
more  effect  upon  the  enemy  than  a  victory  over  them.  They  profess  to  be 
lieve,  and  make  their  men  believe,  there  is  such  a  party  North  in  favor  of 
recognizing  Southern  independence,  that  the  draft  cannot  be  enforced.  [The 
Tribunes  homily  of  February  23d,  1864,  and  other  similar  utterances  from 
the  same  source,  had  been  extensively  republished  in  the  South. — E.  C.]  Let 
them  be  undeceived.  Deserters  come  into  our  lines  daily,  who  tell  us  that 
the  men  are  nearly  universally  tired  of  the  war,  and  that  desertions  would 
be  much  more  frequent,  but  that  they  believe  peace  will  be  negotiated  after 
the  fall  election. 

The  enforcement  of  the  draft  and  prompt  filling  up  of  our  armies  will 
save  the  shedding  of  blood  to  an  immense  degree. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

THE    BAILING    OF    JEFF.    DAVIS. 

The  next  spring  peace  was  obtained,  thanks  to 
Grant,  not  Greeley,  without  buying  it.  Then  Jeff. 
Davis  was  captured,  and,  his  trial  being  delayed, 
Greeley  rushed  down  to  Richmond  to  sign  the 
bail  bond  which  exempted  Davis  from  any  further 
punishment  for  the  greatest  of  possible  crimes. 
This  was  not  even  necessary  to  save  Davis  from 
suffering,  as  there  were  many  Southern  gentlemen 
of  means  anxious  to  go  upon  the  bond.  It  was 
merely  a  little  piece  of  sensational  sentimentality, 
which  gratified  Greeley ;  which  might  have  done 
some  good  if  the  signer's  record  had  been  more 
unequivocally  loyal  during  the  war ;  and  which  cer 
tainly  did  no  harm  except  to  the  feelings  of  a  great 
proportion  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  North,  espe 
cially  the  soldiers,  and  those  whose  sensibilities, 
lacerated  by  the  loss  of  dear  relatives,  had  not  yet 


484  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

been  soothed  and  deadened  by  time.  Greeley  was 
greatly  feted  by  the  "chivalay"  of  Richmond,  and 
made  them  a  gushing  speech  twelve  yards  long ; 
but  he  came  back  North  to  find  most  of  the  loyal 
press  of  the  country  denouncing  in  unmeasured 
terms  his  impetuous  course.  It  was  this  general 
denunciation  which  drew  from  Greeley  that  phrase 
characterizing  the  editors  of  the  country  as  "  the 
little  creatures  whqm  God,  for  some  inscrutable 
purpose,  permits  to  edit  a  majority  of  our  minor 
journals" — a  phrase  which  we  quote  from  a  letter 
addressed  by  Greeley  to  the  Union  League  Club 
of  New  York,  and  published  in  the  Tribune  about 
May  25th,  1867. 

During  the  campaign  of  1868,  the  Tribune  fav 
ored  Grant,  and  the  many  eloquent  words  which  it 
then  uttered  in  praise  of  the  honored  soldier  are 
now  doubly  true,  while  the  equally  many  which  it 
then  recorded  against  the  Democratic  party  are  at 
least  equally  true. 

GREELEY    ON    GREELEY. 

In  the  fall  of  1868,  Mr.  Greeley  attended  a  ban 
quet  at  Montreal.  There  he  made  a  speech,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract,  concerning  the 
baneful  effects  upon  public  men  of  that  political 
disease  called  Presidency-mania — an  ailment  to 
which  he  has  himself  finally  succumbed : 

"  Mr.  Webster  was  not  only  a  gentleman,  but  he  had  the  elements  of  moral 
greatness  ;  and  he  had  faults  as  well.  He  failed  only  in  one  respect,  and  in 
this  respect  I  differ  from  him  ;  he  wanted  to  be  President,  and  I  don't  [But 


HORACE    GREELEY.  485 

you  did.]  But  for  that  one  misfortune  he  would  have  been  the  greatest  man 
America  ever  produced.  We  have  seen  our  greatest  man,  Mr.  Chase,  mak 
ing  the  same  blunder.  I  have  seen  men  who  had  the  disease  early  and  died 
of  it  at  a  very  old  age.  Gen.  Lewis  Cass  died  at  about  82,  and  up  to  the  day 
of  his  death  he  wanted  to  be  President.  No  one  ever  escapes  who  once  catches 
the  disease;  he  lives  and  dies  in  the  delusion.  Being  a  reader  and  an  ob 
server  at  an  early  age,  I  saw  how  it  poisoned  and  paralyzed  the  very  best  of  our 
public  men,  and  I  have  carefully  avoided  it.  It  is  easy  then  to  speak  for 
truth  and  justice,  when  they  need  an  advocate,  when  those  who  threatened 
could  execute  no  vengeance  that  you  dreaded.  So,  then,  I  think  you  are 
happy  in  that  respect,  if  no  other,  for  none  of  you  in  Canada  expect  to  be 
come  sovereign  of  your  country.  That  enables  you  to  have  a  purer  press  and 
more  fearless  public  men  than  perhaps  you  would  otherwise  have.  We  at 
least,  in  our  day,  have  a  President  elect  who  did  not  try  to  be  President.  He 
was  elected  mainly  on  that  account.  Let  a  public  man  honestly  go  forward, 
saying  what  he  believes  to  be  just,  doing  what  he  thinks  is  right,  and,  though 
he  may  not  probably  be  President,  he  can  enjoy  a  very  large  measure  of  free 
dom  of  opinion,  as  well  as  freedom  of  action,  though  freedom  of  opinion  is 
the  very  last  thing  that  a  free  people  is  disposed  to  concede  to  its  public  men." 

So  poor  Mr.  Greeley  thought,  doubtless,  at  Cin 
cinnati,  where  he  sold  or  "  relegated "  his  whole 
birthright  for  a  mess  of  Democratic  pottage. 

GREELEY  AND  "  BAYONET  LEGISLATION." 

The  Cincinnati  platform  condemns  in  the  sever 
est  language  (and  Mr.  Greeley  endorses  it  in  his 
letter  of  acceptance)  the  so-called  Ku-Klux  legisla 
tion  of  Congress.  But  on  the  2ist  of  April,  1871, 
the  Tribiine,  in  publishing  the  Ku-Klux  bill  then 
just  passed,  said  editorially  : 

"  It  is  a  great  point  gained  that  there  has  been  legislation  of  any  character 
upon  this  question.  The  lawlessness  at  the  South  has  been  greatly  fostered 
by  the  heretofore  seeming  indifference  of  Congress  and  the  North  to  the 
outrages  committed  upon  loyal  citizens.  Legislation,  however  imperfect,  was 
calculated  to  restore  the  confidence  of  the  friends  of  the  Union  and  to  warn 
its  enemies.  The  bill,  now  become  a  law,  should  be  enforced  with  such 
power  and  firmness  as  to  intimidate  those  who  seek  to  regain  political  power 
by  outrage  and  crime,  and  to  protect  fully  all  friends  of  order  and  peace, 
irrespectively  of  party  or  of  political  considerations.  The  Democrats  in 


486  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Congress  have  fought  the  Ku-Klux  bill  as  party  measure  directed  against 
their  adherents  in  the  South.  The  Republican  administration  will  enforce 
it  as  a  measure  of  peace  to  the  country  and  security  to  all  its  citizens." 

The  only  objection  that  Mr.  Greeley  even  intimated  at  the  time  consists  in 
the  fact  that  the  law,  in  his  view,  was  not  sufficiently  stringent.  He  would 
have  had  a  still  stronger  law.  He  found  no  fault  with  the  section  which 
authorizes  the  President  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpiis, 
when  the  necessity  existed  therefor.  Previously  to  the  enactment  of  the  law 
he  had  filled  the  columnes  of  the  Tribune  from  day  to  day  with  the  evidences 
of  outrages  and  murders  committed  by  the  Ku-Klux  Klans,  showing  the 
extent  of  these  nefarious  organizations,  and  proving  the  absolute  necessity  of 
interference  by  the  General  Government  for  their  suppression. 

To  show  that  the  language  of  the  Tribune,  cited 
above,  embodied  Mr.  Greeley 's  own  sentiments,  we 
quote  from  his  speech  before  the  Lincoln  club  on 
the  1 2th  of  June,  1871  : 

"  But  I  have  been  asked,  'Are  there  any  Ku-Klux  down  South  ?'  '  Yes, 
gentlemen,  there  are.  They  didn't  come  up  to  me,  and  tell  me  they  were 
Ku-Klux  very  often.  *  *  *  I  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Government 
of  the  Union  to  oppose,  with  all  its  power  and  all  its  force,  every  such  exe 
crable  proceeding  as  this.  Do  you  tell  me  that  those  men  are  liable  to  the 
State  laws  for  the  assaults  and  batteries  which  they  have  committed.  I  don't 
doubt  it ;  but  I  say  they  are  also  in  substance  and  purpose  traitors  to  the  gov 
ernment,  rebels  against  its  authority,  and  the  most  cowardly,  skulking  rebels 
ever  known  to  this  or  any  other  country.  1  hold  our  government  bound  by 
its  duty  of  protecting  our  citizens  in  their  fundamental  rights,  to  pass  and 
enforce  laws  for  the  extirpation  of  the  execrable  Ku-Klux  conspiracy ;  and  if 
it  has  not  power  to  do  it,  I  say  our  government  is  no  government,  but  a  sham. 
I  therefore,  on  every  proper  occasion,  advocated  and  justified  the  Ku-Klux 
act.  I  hold  it  especially  desirable  for  the  South;  and  if  it  does  not  prove 
strong  enough  to  effect  its  purpose,  I  hope  it  "will  be  made  stronger" 

And  he  showed  how  his  present  Southern  friends 
had  carried  Louisiana  in  1868  for  Seymour,  not 
withstanding  there  was  30,000  Republican  majority 
in  the  State,  adding,  "  You  know  perfectly  well  that 
this  result  was  secured  only  by  terrorism  and  vio 
lence." 


HORACE    GREELEY.  487 


GREELEY    AND    TAMMANY. 

In  following  Mr.  Greeley  through  some  of  his 
wanderings  after  strange  gods,  and  his  dangerous 
lapses  from  the  excellent  rules  and  principles  with 
which  he  commenced  political  life,  we  have  only 
space  left  to  point  to  his  flirtations  with  Tammany, 
the  most  desperate  of  political  prostitutes.  The 
record  of  the  Tribune  on  this  subject  is  unques 
tionably  bad.  On  many  occasions  of  local  elec 
tions  it  has  been  found  veering  about  in  strange 
ways,  like  a  compass  needle  in  the  vicinity  of  a 
hidden  lodestone.  It  would  favor  all  manner  of 
queer  coalitions  with  the  Democracy,  and  the  nom 
inees  thus  united  upon  would  be  found,  when  in 
stalled  in  office,  to  be  suspiciously  lenient  toward 
the  practices  of  Tammany.  It  would  be  continu 
ally  embroiled  with  the  management  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  in  its  own  State,  and  would  rarely  have 
any  serious  quarrel  with  the  monster  of  corruption 
that  was  eating  up  the  store  of  New  York  city  tax 
payers.  Pretending  to  be  a  tribune  of  the  people, 
an  independent  and  fearless  journal,  ready  to  lash 
evil-doers  wherever  it  found  them,  and  to  carry 
out  the  high-sounding  precept  of  its  editor  to 
young  Americans — "  Be  no  man's  man  but  Truth's 
and  your  country's" — (borrowed  from  Shakspeare's 
Wolsey,  but  still  none  the  less  a  fine  precept,)  it 
sat  in  its  easy  chair,  never  budging,  except  to 
thwack  the  Custom  House  officials  once  a  day 
pretty  regularly — sat  until  the  rascals  in  Tammany 


488  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '?2. 

Hall  and  the  City  Hall  had  stolen  $60,000,000  out 
of  the  treasury  of  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York — stolen  dollars  where  a  cent  was  wasted  at 
the  Custom  House. 

When,  finally,  the  other  New  York  journals,  led 
by  the  Times,  commenced  the  scathing  exposition 
and  denunciation  of  the  Tammany  frauds,  which 
led  to  the  expulsion  of  Tweed  and  his  ring  from 
the  offices  which  they  had  abused,  and  which,  be 
sides  causing  many  of  them  to  disgorge  their 
spoils,  came  near  landing  them  in  the  penitentiary, 
the  Tribune was  all  the  while  pulling  back  and  ex 
claiming,  "  Let  us  be  calm ;  let  us  not  make  any 
assertions  until  we  can  have  incontestible  proofs," 
etc.  When  the  Times  came  out  with  transcripts 
from  the  Comptroller's  books,  which  showed  a  fear 
ful  record  of  wholesale  thieving,  with  data  to  indi 
cate  just  where  the  money  went,  who  audited  the 
bills,  and  what  the  pretext  was,  Mr.  Greeley  still 
cried,  "Hold  !  "  "  These  accounts  are  surreptitiously 
obtained,"  said  he  ;  and  he  published  Oakey  Hall's 
quibbling  answers,  and  treated  the  complaint  as 
nothing  more  than  a  newspaper  sensation.  It 
was  not  until  forced  into  it  by  the  denunciations 
and  threats  of  its  patrons  that  the  Tribune  rallied 
and  made  a  show  of  helping  to  expose  Tammany. 
Meantime  how  more  than  cat-like  was  it  in  its 
vigilance  toward  the  Custom  House  authorities! 
How  quick  to  pounce  upon  the  merest  mouse  that 
was  suspected  of  gnawing  at  the  revenues  of  Uncle 
Sam ! 


HORACE    GREELEY.  489 

THE    WHEREFORE. 

Why  this  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  greatest, 
most  barefaced  robbery  ever  perpetrated  under 
political  protection,  and  against  an  administration 
(meaning  that  of  the  New  York  custom  house) 
more  efficient  than  any  of  its  predecessors  had 
been?  It  is  not  enough  to  argue  that  the  $50,000 
a  year  which  (according  to  the  New  York  Times) 
the  Tribune  derived  from  Tammany  printing  jobs 
served  to  control  its  course  in  this  manner.  Those 
who  know  Mr.  Greeley  know  he  cannot  be  bought 
with  money.  They  also  know  that  he  can  be 
wheedled  into  almost  any  project  by  a  due  appli 
cation  of  flattery,  protestation  and  cajolery,  and 
that  he  is  especially  susceptible  to  the  blandish 
ments  of  those  who  promise  him  high  office. 

Greeley  saw  the  debt  of  New  York  city  in 
creased,  in  the  face  of  enormous  taxes,  $66,500,000 
in  thirty-one  months,  and  never  so  much  as  growled. 
He  saw  the  debt  of  the  United  States  diminished 
by  $242,128,401  in  twenty-nine  contemporaneous 
months,  and  yet  rent  the  air  with  his  vociferous 
complaints. 

This  achievement  was  the  work  of  General 
Grant's  administration,  and  Greeley  "  knew  a  man" 
whom  he  preferred  to  see  in  Grant's  place.  That 
achievement  was  the  work  of  Tammany's  adminis 
tration,  and  Greeley  knew  a  man  who  would  soon 
need  Tammany's  votes.  Verbum  sat. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

GREELEY  AS  A  BOOK  FARMER. 

A  Chapter  Consisting  of  what    Mr.  Greeley   Knows  About   Farming,  and 
which,  therefore,  has  Nothing  In  It. 

We  had  intended  to  go  somewhat  into  detail  in 
describing  Mr.  Greeley's  method  of  farming  and 
enunciating  his  peculiar  theories  concerning  agri 
culture — all  this  mainly  as  a  curiosity,  and  as  an  il 
lustration  of  how  easy  it  is  for  a  born  philosopher 
to  construct  half  a  dozen  theories  without  possess 
ing  one  fact ;  but  our  space  is  too  far  overrun  for 
this,  and  the  chapter  will  therefore  have  to  be  very 
brief. 

Mr.  Greeley  has  a  farm  at  Chappaqua  station, 
town  of  Newcastle,  Westchester  county,  New  York, 
some  35  miles  from  the  city.  This  farm,  mostly 
marsh  and  unpromising  upland,  cost  him  $140  an 
acre ;  and  he  has  been  at  work  on  it  twenty  years 
trying  to  make  a  model  farm  of  it.  Its  total  area, 
as  increased  by  late  purchases,  is  seventy  acres ; 
and  of  this,  fifty  acres  is  a  hill-top.  He  visits  it 
every  Saturday,  and  gives  the  man  who  carries  it 
on  for  him  a  good  top-dressing  of  profanity  and  a 
rich  mulching  of  theory;  and  the  man  has,  by  dili 
gently  avoiding  the  latter  and  benignantly  forgiv- 

(49°) 


GREELEY  AS  A  BOOK  FARMER.        491 

ing  the  former,  been  able  to  keep  himself  and  wife 
alive  on  the  product  of  the  seventy  acres. 

As  everybody  knows,  Greeley  has  been  a  very 
voluminous  writer  upon  agriculture.  His  book, 
called  "  What  I  Know  About  Farming,"  has  ob 
tained  a  large  circulation  by  being  given  away  as 
a  premium  for  subscribers,  when  the  portrait  of  the 
Sage  of  Lackawaxen  himself  had  no  further  charm 
for  rural  readers.  It  is  beyond  cavil,  one  of  the 
most  entertaining  books  in  the  language  It  fills 
a  place  in  American  literature  somewhat  akin  to 
that  occupied  in  English  by  a'Beckett's  "Comic 
History  of  England."  In  it  the  reader  is  afforded 
the  luxury  of  seeing  a  great  mind  turn  itself  inside 
out,  and  evolve  things  from  the  focal  point  of  what 
it  does  not  contain.  It  is  a  complete  refutation  of 
the  ancient  maxim,  ex  nihilo,  nihil  fit.  This  may 
have  been  true  in  ancient  Roman  times,  but  no 
man  who  sees  Horace  Greeley  evolve  a  bookful  of 
agricultural  aphorisms  out  of  his  own  internal 
consciousness,  will  longer  believe  that  "out  of 
nothing,  nothing  can  be  made."  This  circumstance 
affords  further  evidence  of  Greeley's  leading  prin 
ciple  that  the  world  is  all  awry,  and  has  got  to  be 
reconstructed  altogether,  from  keel  to  topmast. 

Horace  tells  us  that  during  the  fifteen  years  of 
apprenticeship  which  he  served  on  his  father's  farm, 
he  "learned  no  more  about  farming  than  a  plow- 
horse  ought  to  know" ;  but  he  thinks  if  he  could 
have  had  such  a  book  as  "  What  I  Know  About 
Farming,"  to  read,  he  would  have  become  so  fascin- 

29 


492  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

ated  with  his  calling  that  he  would  have  continued 
a  good  agriculturist  to  this  day ;  and  he  closes  his 
book,  at  the  52nd  chapter,  "with  the  joyful  hope 
that  its  perusal  will  inspire  in  the  mind  of  the  young 
agriculturist  a  desire  for  something  better" — a  hope 
that  is  doubtless  realized.  At  least  the  old  farmers, 
who  are  not  to  be  caught  with  book  chaff,  have 
usually  signified,  after  reading  Horace's  essays, 
that  they  "  desire  something  better,"  or  nothing  at 
all. 

Mr.  Greeley's  great  hobby  as  an  agriculturist,  is 
deep  plowing.  He  will  not  stop  a  barley-corn  short 
of  thirty  inches ;  and  the  brindle  steers  that  perish 
in  the  attempt  to  haul  subsoil  plows  through  the 
stony  hard-pan  at  this  depth  are  of  no  more  ac 
count  to  him  than  the  thousand  soidiers  who  got 
their  death  at  Bull  Run.  He  has  also  strong  ideas 
upon  the  subject  of  irrigation,  and  actually  de 
livered  a  lecture  in  the  Wabash  Valley  of  Indiana— 
a  district  almost  constantly  flooded  from  the  river, 
and  malarious  from  alluvial  deposits,  recommend 
ing  elaborate  apparatus  for  this  purpose ! 

Being  compelled  to  summarize  Mr.  Greeley's 
agricultural  platform  very  briefly,  we  will  adopt  his 
own  style  of  re-laying  the  planks  of  the  Cincinnati 
platform,  and  throw  it  into  a  letter  to  the  illustri 
ous  author — thus : 

ANYWHERE,  July  4,  1872. 
HON.  HORACE  GREELEY  : 

Sir : — I  have  received  your  work  entitled  "What  I  know  of  Farming," 
which  contains  your  gospel  of  agriculture.  Being  a  young  farmer  without 
experience — one  of  those  young  men  whom  you  have  so  impetuously 
advised  to  "  take  $250  and  go  West" — your  book  will,  I  anticipate,  prove  of 


GREELEY  AS  A  BOOK  FARMER.        493 

inestimable  value  to  me  in  supplying  those  precepts  of  which  a  lamentable 
defect  in  my  early  training  places  me  so  greatly  in  need.  Your  precepts 
aforesaid,  as  I  understand  them  from  a  careful  reading,  may  be  fairly  epi 
tomized  as  follows : 

CONCERNING  PLOWING. — That  thirty  inches  is  the  requisit  depth,  no 
matter  whether  we  are  raising  strawberries  or  oaks.  That  the  man  who 
plows  shallower  than  this  is  an  idiot  or  a  knave,  and  that  State's  prison  is 
too  good  for  him.  That  we  really  can't  have  any  successful  farming  until 
somebody  invents  a  steam  plowman  who  whistles  as  he  goes,  and  pulverizes 
crosswise  and  otherwise,  ten  to  twenty  acres  per.  day.  I  am  reserving  all 
my  plowing  till  that  happy  day. 

CONCERNING  WHERE  TO  FARM. — That  if  I  "  cannot  coax  it  (my  farm)  to 
grow  decent  crops  of  anything,"  I  must  "  run  away  from  it  or  work  out  by 
the  day"  for  my  u  more  fortunate  neighbor,"  and  that  you  and  I  are  in  favor 
of  "  a  law  compelling  him"  (the  more  fortunate  neighbor)  to  employ  me 
whenever  I  demand  employment.  That  I  must  n't  go  West  with  a  family 
on  my  hands,  nor  must  I  buy  a  farm  on  credit ;  but  that  I  must  take  $2,000 
and  buy  up  somebody's  improvements  and  farm  it  in  peace  and  comfort. 
(By  the  way,  Mr.  Greeley,  must  n't  we  have  a  law  compelling  somebody  to 
'give  me  that  $2,000?  Some  "more  foriunate  neighbor,"  lor  instance?) 

CONCERNING  TREES. — That  "for  every  tree  cut  down,  two  should  be 
planted."  This  rule  is  invariable.  That  you  are  in  favor  of  chestnut,  wal 
nut,  hickory,  white  oak,  locust  and  white  pine  as  the  proper  trees  to  be 
planted  ;  that  you  don't  know  whether  they  will  grow  or  not,  but  that  they 
ought  to,  and  should  be  compelled  to  do  their  duty.  ( What  I  Know,  etc., 
page  54.) 

CONCERNING  DRAINING. — That  water  will  not,  as  you  formerly  supposed, 
run  on  level  ground.  (Ibid  p.  65).  That  the  way  to  make  a  good  drain 
is  to  find  out  how  you  made  yours  at  Chappaqua,  and  then  proceed  as 
unlike  you  as  possible,  (Ibid  /.  66);  and  that  to  get  a  drain  well  laid,  I 
should  go  to  "  Messrs.  Chickering  &  Gall,"  New  York,  (Ibid p.  67);  and  that 
it  wont  pay  to  wall  in  a  brook  as  you  did,  at  the  expense  of  $3,000,  when 
the  spring  floods  carry  the  walls  away  every  year. 

CONCERNING  IRRIGATION.— That,  next  to  deep  plowing,  this  is  the  first 
law  of  nature  ;  that  irrigating  dams  like  yours,  which  cost  $90—"  twice  what 
it  ought  to  have  been,"— and  which  don't  work  then,  are  productive  of 
irritating  damns,  even  in  Philosophers. 

CONCERNING  GUANO. — That  it  is  a  very  reprehensible  beverage  for  the 
soil  to  make  use  of— in  fact,  as  you  felicitously  style  it,  "  the  brandy  of  vege 
tation  ;"  and  that  being,  moreover,  the  product  of  the  pauper  labor  of 
pigeons  in  savage  islands,  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  come  in  competition 
with  protected  American  gypsum. 

CONCERNING  APPLE  TREES.— That  no  limb  should  extend  more  than 
eight  feet  from  the  trunk  ;  that  "  for  shedding  wind  barren  trees  are  best  ;" 


494  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

that  caterpillars  are  incongenial  to  apples,  and  that  "  no  man  who  harbors 
caterpillars  has  any  moral  right  to  apples."  That  apples  are  often  lost  through 
the  too  early  blossoming  of  the  trees,  and  the  subsequent  appearance  of  Jack 
Frost,  and  that  the  placing  of  ice  under  the  roots  of  the  trees  will  obviate 
this  evil.  (Ibid  p.  141.) 

CONCERNING  POTATOES. — That  the  aspiration  of  the  age  is  toward  a 
Perfect  Potato  ;  and  that  "  he  who  originates  a  really  valuable  new  Potato 
deserves  a  recompense  for  his  industry" — perhaps  to  have  your  next  book 
dedicated  to  him,  as  the  present  is  "  to  the  future  inventor  of  the  steam 
plow,"  whereby  "  Not  Less  than  Ten  Acres  per  Day  shall  be  Pulverized  to  a 
Depth  of  Two  Feet,  at  a  Cost  of  not  more  than  Two  Dollars  per  Acre."  I 
find,  also,  to  quote  your  valuable  Work,  that  potatoes  cannot  be  honestly 
raised  without  treating  them  to  Swamp  Muck. 

CONCERNING  BEETS  AND  CARROTS. — That  these  are  proper  vegetables, 
which  deserve  encouragement  ;  that  you  yourself  have  never  succeeded  with 
Beets  (no  political  insinuation)  but  that  you  "  confidently  expect  to  be  able 
soon  to  raise  1,000  bushels  of  Carrots,  and  1,500  bushels  of  Beets  per  acre." 
I  will  defer  my  experiments  with  those  roots  until  you  tell  me  how  you  did 
this. 

CONCERNING  ANIMALS. — That  you  have  understood  sheep  to  be  valuable 
animals  to  the  farmer ;  but  that  you  know  nothing  about  Animals,  of  your 
own  positive  knowledge,  and  therefore  relegate  that  subject  to  the  several 
Congressional  districts  ;  but  that  concerning  Dogs,  you  have  no  hesitation  in 
counting  them  as  disreputable,  and  recommend  strychnine  for  the  whole 
species. 

CONCERNING  PASTURING. — That  it  is  "  a  process  I  (you)  detest  ;"  that  it 
is  a  radical,  incurable  vice,  "(Ibid p.  19,  20,)  etc.;  and  that  a  prohibitory 
law,  making  pasturing  a  penal  offence,  and  authorizing  the  seizure  and 
destruction  of  all  pastures,  would  therefore,  according  to  the  Greeley  philos 
ophy,  be  a  good  thing.  This  is  a  subject  which  I  feel  should  not  be 
"  relegated." 

CONCERNING  GRAIN  RAISING.— That  the  prettiest  way  to  raise  Wheat  is 
to  take  $72,000  and  buy  400  acres  of  desert  in  New  Jersey,  put  on  $24,000 
worth  of  Marl,  $20,000  worth  of  Swamp  Muck,  $5,000  worth  of  Oyster 
Shell  Lime,  and  $5,000  worth  of  Bone  Flour,  and  sow  Wheat  upon  the 
compost  thus  formed,  (Ibid  p.  767.)  I  am  now  looking  for  a  man  to  loan 
me  $72,000  on  security  of  the  probable  crop.  Several  have  refused.  Will 
you  please  brand  them  in  the  Tribane  as  liars,  cut-throats  and  villains  ? 
Yours  admiringly, 

JONAS  PEAPOD. 
GREELEY'S  BATTLE  OF  DORKING. 

The  vagaries  of  Mr.  Greeley  on  the  subject  of 


GREELEY  AS  A  BOOK  FARMER.        495 

agriculture  have  been  made  the  subject  of  many 
broad  burlesques  (which  the  foregoing,  made  up 
largely  of  actual  extracts  from  Mr.  Greeley's  book, 
is  by  no  means  intended  to  be).  They  have  also 
given  rise  to  several  clever  hits  in  a  more  delicately 
satirical  way,  one  of  which,  a  parody  on  the  English 
sketch,  "  Battle  of  Dorking,"  also  hits  off  some  of 
Mr.  Greeley's  other  weaknesses  and  eccentricities. 
The  story  (which  we  reproduce  below)  is  supposed 
to  be  told,  fifty  years  hence  by  a  father  to  his 
inquiring  child: 

THE   FALL   OF   AMERICA. 

You  ask  me  to  tell  you,  my  children,  of  the  events  which  immediately  pre- 
ceeded  the  destruction  of  the  once  great  American  Union  and  the  capture  of 
the  country  by  its  present  European  rulers,  and  to  say  something,  also,  of  the 
cause  which  led  to  these  deplorable  results.  I  undertake  the  task  with  a 
heavy  heart,  for  when  I  revert  to  that  terrible  time  I  cannot  help  contrasting 
our  proud  condition  up  to  that  fatal  year  with  the  humiliating  position  occu 
pied  now  by  the  American  people.  The  story  is  a  short  one.  In  the  fall  of 
1872  Horace  Greeley,  the  editor  of  a  newspaper  in  New  York,  was  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  The  people  voted  for  him  because  they 
thought  he  was  an  honest  man.  And  so  he  was.  But  he  was  also  vain  and 
weak,  and  he  entertained  certain  fanatical  and  preposterous  notions — about 
agricultural  matters,  for  instance — which  he  was  determined  to  force  upon 
the  people  at  all  hazards  and  despite  all  opposition.  He  believed,  among 
other  things,  that  every  man  ought  to  go  west  to  earn  his  bread,  and  long  be 
fore  he  was  chosen  President  he  used  to  advise  everybody  to  move  to  that  re 
gion,  as  a  cure  for  all  the  disasters  that  could  befall  the  human  family. 

As  soon  as  he  reached  the  executive  mansion,  which  we  used  to  call  the 
White  House,  President  Greeley  organized  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  and  proceeded  to  force  the  entire  population  of  the  seaboard  States 
westward  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The  utmost  violence  was  used. 
Those  who  resisted  were  shot  down,  and  their  dead  bodies  were  carried  off 
to  a  national  factory  which  the  President  had  established  for  making  some 
kind  of  fantastical  fertilizer.  All  the  large  cities  of  the  East  were  depopu 
lated,  and  the  towns  were  entirely  empty.  The  army  swept  before  it  mil 
lions  of  men,  women  and  children,  until  the  vast  plains  west  of  Kansas  were 
reached,  when  the  pursuit  ceased  and  the  army  was  drawn  up  in  a  continu 
ous  line,  with  orders  to  shoot  any  person  who  attempted  to  visit  the  East. 


496  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Of  course  hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  poor  creatures  perished  from  starv 
ation.  This  seemed  to  frighten  President  Greeley,  and  he  sent  a  message  to 
Congress  recommending  that  seven  hundred  thousand  volumes  of  a  book  of 
his  entitled  "  What  I  Know  about  Farming,"  should  be  devoted  for  the 
relief  of  the  starving  sufferers.  This  was  done,  and  farming  implements  and 
seeds  were  supplied  ;  and  then  the  millions  of  wretched  outcasts  made  an 
effort  to  till  the  ground.  Of  the  result  of  this  I  will  speak  further  on. 

In  the  meantime  the  President  was  doing  infinite  harm  to  the  country  in 
another  way.  His  handwriting  was  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  bad  that  no 
living  man  could  read  it.  And  so  when  he  sent  his  first  annual  message  to 
Congress — the  document  was  devoted  wholly  to  the  tariff  and  agriculture — 
a  sentence  appeared  which  subsequently  was  ascertained  to  be,  "  Large  culti 
vation  of  rutabagas  and  beans  is  the  only  hope  of  the  American  nation,  I  am 
sure."  The  printers,  not  being  able  to  interpret  this,  put  it  in  the  following 
form,  in  which  it  went  to  the  world  :  "  The  Czar  of  Russsia  could'nt  keep 
clean  if  he  washed  himself  with  the  whole  Atlantic  ocean  once  a  day  ! "  This 
perversion  of  the  message  was  immediately  telegraphed  to  Russia  by  the 
Russian  Minister,  and  the  Czar  was  so  indignant  that  he  immediately  de 
clared  war. 

"  Just  at  this  time  President  Greeley  undertook  to  write  some  letters  to 
Prince  Bismark  upon  the  subject  of  potato  rot,  and,  after  giving  his  singular 
views  at  great  length,  he  concluded  with  the  statement  that  if  the  Emperor 
William  said  that  subsoil  plowing  was  not  good  in  light  soil,  or  that  guano 
was  better  than  bone-dust,  he  was  '  a  liar,  a  villain  and  a  slave  ! '  Of  course 
the  Emperor  immediately  declared  war,  and  became  an  ally  of  Russia  and 
England,  against  which  latter  country  Mr.  Greeley  had  actually  begun  hos 
tilities  already,  because  the  Queen,  in  her  speech  from  the  throne,  had  de 
clared  the  Tribune's  advocacy  of  a  tariff  on  pig  iron  incendiary,  and  calcu 
lated  to  disturb  the  peace  of  nations. 

'  Unhappily,  this  was  not  the  full  measure  of  our  disasters.  The  Presi 
dent  had  sent  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  a  copy  of  his  book,  '  What  I 
Know,"  etc.,  with  his  autograph  upon  a  fly-leaf.  The  Emperor  mistook  the 
signature  for  a  carricature  of  the  Austrian  eagle,  and  he  readily  joined  in  a 
war  against  the  United  States  ;  while  France  was  provoked  to  the  same  act 
by  the  fact  that  when  the  French  minister  came  to  call  on  Mr.  Greeley,  to 
present  his  credentials,  the  President,  who  was  writing  an  editorial  at  the 
time,  not  comprehending  the  French  language,  mistook  the  Ambassador  for 
a  beggar,  and  without  looking  up  handed  him  a  quarter  and  an  order  for  a 
clean  shirt,  and  said  to  him,  'Go  West,  young  man — go  West.' 

"  So  all  these  nations  joined  in  making  war  upon  the  United  States.  They 
swooped  down  upon  our  coasts  and  landed  without  opposition,  for  those  ex 
posed  portions  of  our  unhappy  country  were  absolutely  deserted.  The  Presi 
dent  was  afraid  to  call  away  the  army  from  Kansas  at  first,  for  fear  the  out 
raged  people  upon  the  plains  would  come  East  in  spite  of  him.  But  at  last 


GREELEY  AS  A  BOOK  FARMER.        497 

he  did  summon  the  army  to  his  aid,  and  it  moved  to  meet  the  enemy.  It 
was  too  late.  Before  the  troops  reached  Cincinnati  the  foreigners  had  seized 
Washington  and  all  the  country  east  of  the  Ohio,  and  had  hung  the  Presi 
dent,  the  Cabinet,  and  every  member  of  Congress.  The  army  disbanded  in 
alarm,  and  the  invaders  removed  to  the  far  West,  where  they  found  the  popu 
lation  dying  of  starvation  because  they  had  followed  the  advice  of  Greeley's 
book,  to  '  Try,  for  your  first  crop,  to  raise  limes  ;  and  don't  plant  more  than 
a  bushel  of  quicklime  in  a  hill  ?'  Of  course,  these  wretched  people  were  at 
the  mercy  of  the  enemy,  who — to  his  credit  be  it  said — treated  them  kindly, 
fed  them,  and  brought  them  back  to  their  old  homes. 

"  You  know  what  followed — how  Prince  Frederick  William  of  Prussia 
ascended  the  American  throne,  and  the  other  humiliations  that  ensued. 
It  was  a  fearful  blow  to  Republicanism — a  blow  from  which  it  will  never  re 
cover.  It  made  us,  who  were  freemen,  a  nation  of  slaves.  It  was  all  the 
result  of  our  blind  confidence  in  a  misguided  old  man,  who  thought  himself 
a  philosopher,  but  who  was  actually  a  fool.  May  heaven  preserve  you,  my 
children,  from  the  remorse  I  feel  when  I  remember  that  I  voted  for  that  bu 
colic  old  editor." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

IS  HE  FIT? 

Traits  of  Horace  Greeley's  Character — For  what  his  Genius  Fits  him — For 
what  it  Does  Not — How  an  Honest  Man  Can  Do  Dishonest  Acts — Some 
Faults  and  How  they  Might  be  Cured — Can  the  Country  Afford  it  ? — How 
his  One-Term  Theory  Kills  His  Own  Chances — H.  G.,  his  Plea  at  the 
Jubilee — H.  G.  as  an  Administrator — Eleven  Specific  Points — Wm.  C. 
Bryant's  Portraiture  of  Greeley. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  reader  has  received  an 
impression  from  the  preceding  chapters,  or  from 
any  other  source,  that  Horace  Greeley  is  a  man 
destitute  of  admirable  personal  qualities.  He  cer 
tainly  has  several  such.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  a 
man  of  genius — genius  in  a  certain  direction,  to 
which  his  success  as  an  agitator  and  reformer,  and 
as  a  writer  for  the  patriotic  American  public,  bears 
sufficient  testimony.  His  best  trait — indeed  the 
best  trait  which  any  man,  public  or  private,  can 
have,  is  honesty:  or  rather, we  must  say  in  this  par 
ticular  case, the  intention  to  be  honest;  and  this  in 
tention  is  always  executed  except  where  it  is  over 
borne  by  his  strong  and  impetuous  prejudices,  or 
by  his  inordinate  personal  vanity,  or  by  some  other 
motive,  in  itself  not  dishonorable,  but  which  warps 
the  man's  conscience,  unconsciously  to  himself. 

This  paradox  often  occurs  in  men  of  irregular 
(498) 


IS    HE    FIT  ? 


499 


education,  of  uncontrolled  impulse,  and  of  a  pre 
disposition  to  theorizing  and  to  making  all  events 
and  actions  square  themselves  by  their  theories, 
we  have  already  seen  this  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
Charles  Sumner,  asserting  what  was  not  true  with 
regard  to  Stanton,  and  denying  what  was  true  with 
regard  to  himself.  It  rarely  appears  in  Mr.  Gree- 
ley's  history,  except  in  connection  with  public  af 
fairs — as  in  the  case  of  the  Niagara  peace  negotia 
tions,  wherein  he  not  only  misrepresented  Lincoln, 
and  caused  him  to  be  misrepresented  still  more 
widely  by  the  quasi  Rebel  commissioners,  but  mis 
represented  his  own  status  to  the  public  through 
the  Tribune.  On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  July, 
1 864,  five  days  after  his  fiasco  at  the  Clifton  House, 
he  said,  at  the  head  of  his  editorial  columns  : 

"  Of  course  all  reports  that  the  writer  has  been  engaged  in  proposing,  or 
receiving  or  discussing  hypothetical  terms  or  basis  of  peace,  whether  with 
accredited  agents  of  the  Richmond  authorities  or  others,  are  utterly  mistaken," 

On  the  same  day  he  published  those  portions  of 
the  correspondence  which  accuse  Lincoln  of  pre 
varicating. 

Having  in  youth  few  really  vicious  impulses,  and 
none,  perhaps,  which  manifested  themselves  to  his 
parents,  Mr.  Greeley  never  felt  obliged  to  put  forth 
effort  to  control  his  impulses  ;  hence  it  is,  doubtless, 
that  we  find  him  yielding  so  readily  to  them  through 
out  his  career. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  term  of  public  service 
in  an  office  of  dignity  and  responsibility,  would  be 
beneficial  to  him — would  make  him  less  flighty,  less 


500  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

fidgety,  less  ready  to  go  into  a  passion  and  speak 
hard  words,  less  ready  to  yield  to  the  importuni 
ties  of  friends  without  reference  to  the  character  of 
those  friends,  less  ready  to  adopt  every  new  va 
gary  which  presents  itself  to  him  of  a  summer  morn 
ing  in  a  plausible  aspect.  In  short,  his  consti 
tutional  radicalism  might  be  toned  down  into  a  par 
tial  conservatism  by  a  term  of  office  as  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  nation.  But  can  the  nation  afford  to 
take  him  as  a  leader,  just  for  the  training  it  would 
give  him,  when  it  has  others  already  trained  ?  And 
especially  when  there  is  great  risk  that  the  quali 
ties  which  now  unfit  the  man  for  the  place  might, 
by  the  force  of  circumstances  extremely  liable  to 
occur,  be  exaggerated,  rather  than  cured  by  the 
process  ?  Even  if  it  were  not  for  this  risk,  a  very 
strong  argument  against  trying  Greeley  in  the 
Presidency  would  be  furnished  by  his  own  rule  of 
One  Term,  which  would  muster  him  out  of  service 
before  he  had  become  well  fitted  for  his  duties. 

Mr.  Greeley  himself  argues*  that,  since  he  has 
been  a  good  journalist,  he  may  be  reasonably  ex 
pected  to  make  a  good  President ;  but  this  is  a  most 
palpable  non  sequitur.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  not 
a  good  journalist! — he  is  simply  an  able  writer  and 
speaker,  a  bold  innovator  and  a  doughty  disputant 
upon  mooted  points  of  politics,  who  can  command 
the  ear  of  the  public,  and  whose  style  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  newspaper  "  leader"  or 

*Speech  at  the  Boston  Jubilee,  July  3,  1872. 

fMr.  Parton  concurs  in  this  view.     See  Biography,  p.  205. 


IS    HE    FIT.  5OI 

editorial  paragraph.  Whenever  he  has  had  the  ab 
solute  management  of  the  Tribune,  its  list  and  its 
profits  have  fallen  off.  One  year  since  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war,  under  such  conditions,  the  net 
receipts  of  the  paper  were  reduced  to  less  than 
$12,000,  whereas  they  should  have  been  upwards  of 
$200,000. 

But  supposing  Mr.  Greeley  were  a  good  journal 
ist,  the  fact  would  not  argue  that  he  would  make  a 
good  President  any  more  than  that  he  would  be  a 
skillful  watchmaker.  Some  of  the  qualities  which 
militate  seriously  against  Mr.  Greeley's  fitness  for 
the  Presidential  office  are  these : 

1.  He  is  inconstant  of  purpose.     Evinced  in  his 
vacillating    course   on    many    questions    of    social 
economy   in  the  period  previous  to  1860,  and  his 
hot-and-cold  blowing  during  the  war — favoring  one 
day  the   right  of  the  South  to  secede,  counseling 
amnesty,  peace-on-any-terms,  etc.,  and  on  the  next 
day  shouting  "On  to  Richmond  !"  "The  Rebels  have 
been  too   leniently  treated !"    "They  must,  on   re 
turning,  find  their  homes  desolate,  their  wives  and 
children  starving,"  etc. 

2.  He   is    intolerant,  rabidly,  intolerant,    of    the 
opinion  of  others,  even  in  non-essentials.     He  him 
self  tells  us*  how  he  was  at  serious  variance  with 
Margaret  Fuller,  during  months  of  her  stay  in  his 
household,  because  she  chose  to  drink  tea  and  cof 
fee.     Of  his   intolerance  in    more  serious  matters, 
numerous    instances    have    been    given    in    these 
pages. 

*  Par  ton,  page  257. 


502  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

3.  He  tends   to    violent  theories  and  isms  as  a 
duck  tends  toward  the  water.     Instance  his  sudden 
embracement    of  Communism   (which   he  has  not 
yet  really  abandoned),  his  ultra  views  concerning 
sumptuary   legislation,   his  dalliance   with    Rebels 
during  the  War,  his  "affinity"  for  Margaret  Fuller, 
Theodore  Tilton,  and  such  extremists,  for  Weston, 
the    pedestrian,  "Lord  Gordon  Gordon,"  and  such 
humbugs,  and  his  general  eagerness  to  revolution 
ize  society. 

4.  He  is  rude  to   boorishness  in  manners,  a  fact 
springing  not  less   from  his  lack  of  breeding  than 
from    his    inordinate    self-conceit    and   affectation 
of  individuality.     Instance  his   habitual   profanity, 
his  appearance  upon   the  street  in  rags  and  filth,* 
his   commencing  a   reply   to   the   Evening  Post  in 
1849,  with  these  words: 

"  You  lie,  villian  !  willfully,  wickedly,  basely  lie  /" 
and  other  like  illustrations  cited  in  chapter  twenty 
of  this  book. 

5.  He  is  the   worst  judge  of  men.     Instance  his 
choice    of    political    associates    at    home,  and    his 
almost  daily  experience  in  being  duped  by  design 
ing  fellows,  recommending  rascals  for  office,  etc. 

6.  He  is  ignorant  of  the  qualities  and  capacities 
of  human  nature.    Instance  his  "worse  than  crimes" 
— his  blunders — in  the  Lackawaxen  expedition  and 
other  Fourierite  experiences. 

7.  He  does  not  know  the   American  people,  nor 
respect     their    opinions.       Instance    his    wayward 

*  Parton,  pp.  574  and  576. 


IS    HE    FIT.  503 

course  in  the  war,  and  his  declaration  at  the  Four 
ier  banquet  of  his  purpose  to  "fly  in  the  teeth" 
of  public  opinion  whenever  he  chose. 

8.  He  lacks  the  organizing   and   administrative 
faculty.     See    Tribune    experiences  as  above,  fail 
ure  in  all  newspaper  ventures  before  he  picked  up 
McElrath,  failure   of  his    farming,   frittering  away 
of  his  million  of  personal  revenues,  failure  of  his 
political  schemes,  etc. 

9.  He  is  a    Radical    by    temperament,  which    a 
President   should  never  be,  though  may  entertain 
progressive  views. 

10.  He  cherishes  personal  revenges  and  is  con 
stantly  in  half  a  dozen  quarrels,  and  Charles  Sum- 
ner's  Eleventh  Commandment  (which    Greeley  is 
circulating    by    the    hundred   thousand)   says,  "A 
President  should  never  quarrel."  (See  Seward  let 
ter,  Lincoln  episodes,    Tribune  of  almost  any  date 
relative  to  Senator  Conkling,  etc.) 

11.  And  worst — he  has  a  morbid  laxity  of  con 
duct  toward  evil-doers — not  because  he  is  prone  to 
evil  himself,  nor  solely  because  of  his  sentimental 
notions  about  universal  amnesty,  but  because  the 
public  condemns  robbery  and  corruption,  and  Gree- 
ley's   habitual  belligerency  toward  public    opinion 
places  him  instinctively   on  the  opposite  side  from 
the  general  public.       Instance    his    course    toward 
Tammany  from  a  remote  date,  toward  the  South 
ern    Rebels,  and  toward  many   isolated   and  indi 
vidual  malefactors. 

Of  these  eleven  articles  of   impeachment  none 


504  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

would  perhaps  serve  to  oust  Greeley  after  should 
be  placed  in  the  Presidential  chair  ;  there  is  there 
fore  all  the  more  need  of  the  public  considering 
them  well,  before  elevating  him  to  such  a  responsible 
place.  If  any  two  or  three  of  them  are  true,  they 
should  disqualify  him  for  the  popular  suffrages. 
Which  one  of  them  is  not  ? 

We  will  close  this  chapter  with  two  quotations 
from  high  authority  in  reinforcement  of  our 
characterization  of  Mr.  Greeley.  First,  from  Mr. 
George  William  Curtis,  most  candid  and  generous 
of  New  York  journalists,  and  editor  of  Harper s 
Weekly.  He  says: 

"  Mr.  Greeley  undoubtedly  has  elements  of  strength,  but  he  is  not  a  strong 
candidate.  His  name  does  not  suggest  to  the  country  either  of  the  two  great 
executive  qualities — discretion  and  decision.  Bred  in  the  school  of  Henry 
Clay,  whose  memory  he  piously  reveres,  he  is  naturally  timid  and  a  com 
promiser.  He  has  the  credulity  which  belongs  to  a  certain  simplicity  of 
nature,  and  which  destroys  all  sound  judgment  of  person.  His  sympathies 
are  limited  ;  his  prejudices  deep  and  strong.')  He  has  been  always  a  poli 
tician,  and  of  an  unsuspected  personal  honesty.  Yet  he  is  not  free  from  sus 
picion  of  personal  grievance,  for  he  undoubtedly  considered  himself  betrayed 
by  the  action  of  the  New  York  Republican  Convention  in  1870  ;  and  it  is 
plain  that  he  has  felt  the  want  of  what  is  called  influence  with  the  adminis 
tration." 

And  next,  from  that  Nestor  of  the  press,  Mr. 
William  C.  Bryant,  who  writes  in  his  Evening  Post 
(a  paper  which  had  been  in  sympathy  with  the 
Cincinnati  movement  up  to  the  time  of  its  wreck 
upon  the  old  rock  of  political  trickery) : 

"  We  shall,  therefore,  put  together  a  few  reasons  that  occur  to  us  why  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Greeley  is  unworthy  of  support. 

"  He  lacks  the  courage,  the  firmness,  and  the  consistency  which  are  re 
quired  in  a  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation.  He  showed  this  in  a  remarkable 
manner  when,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  he  desired  to  let  the  South 


IS    HE    FIT?  505 

have  its  way  and  dissolve  the  Union  of  the  States.  He  was  frightened,  and 
feared  to  face  the  consequences  of  rejecting  the  demands  of  the  Southern 
politicians.  The  war,  however,  went  on,  and  soon,  though  claiming  to  be  a 
Unionist,  he  became  frightened  again.  He  wanted  to  make  terms  with  the 
rebel  government  at  Richmond ;  he  wanted  to  negotiate  with  George  Saun- 
ders  and  other  agents  of  the  rebel  government  who  had  sought  refuge  in  Can 
ada.  He  was  for  stopping  the  war  and  letting  the  South  depart  with  the 
chance  of  preserving  slavery.  His  whole  career  during  the  war  was  irreso 
lute  and  cowardly,  and  his  counsels  impolitic  and  unwise  to  the  last  degree. 

"  Mr.  Greeley's  political  associations  and  intimacies  are  so  bad  that  we  can 
expect  nothing  from  him,  in  case,  to  his  own  misfortune  and  ours,  he  should 
be  elected,  but  a  corrupt  administration  of  affairs.  Everybody  is  aware  of 
his  close  intimacy  with  Mr.  Fenton,  of  the  Senate.  If  there  is  a  corrupt  and 
dishonest  politician  in  the  land,  there  is  no  man  who  has  a  better  claim  to  be 
so  considered  than  Reuben  E.  Fenton.  His  character  is  well  known  to  Mr. 
Greeley  ;  yet  is  he  Mr.  Greeley's  bosom  friend  and  counsellor  in  politics. 
Without  a  single  idea  of  what  public  virtue  or  principle  means,  he  is  a  most 
shrewd  and  skillful  political  manager.  It  was  probably  through  his  intrigues 
more  than  through  any  other  influence  that  Mr.  Greeley  succeeded  in  obtain 
ing  his  nomination.  The  same  facility  for  entering  into  close  association 
with  dishonest  men  has  marked  the  whole  of  Mr.  Greeley's  career.  He  be 
gan  his  political  life  as  a  disciple  of  Thurlow  Weed,  and  only  rebelled  against 
his  master  when  he  found  that  he  was  not  to  have  any  of  the  offices  for  which 
political  parties  were  quarreling.  In  a  letter,  which  found  its  way  to  print, 
he  expressly  declined  to  hunt  any  longer  in  company  with  that  virtuous  indi 
vidual,  Weed,  because  there  was  no  proper  division  of  the  game.  He  now 
hunts  in  company  with  Fenton,  who  is  more  generous.  If  he  should  be 
elected,  it  is  very  likely  that  Fenton  would  be  the  principal  member  of  his 
Cabinet,  and  that  the  other  heads  of  departments  would  be  little  better.  As 
for  the  subordinate  offices,  they  would  probably  be  filled  by  the  men  whom 
he  makes  his  companions,  such  as  John  Gridley,  Waldo  Hutchins,  Benjamin 
Wood,  John  Morrissey  and  Hank  Smith,  the  lesser  lights  of  Mr.  Greeley's 
social  firmament. 

"  Mr.  Greeley  has  no  settled  political  principles,  with  one  exception.  It  is  a 
serious  objection  to  any  candidate  for  an  office  of  high  political  trust  that  he 
has  no  well  defined  standard  of  right  in  his  own  mind  by  which  to  try  any 
measure  or  any  course  of  proceeding  that  may  be  proposed.  This  is  one  of 
Mr.  Greeley's  great  deficiencies.  Any  aspect  of  a  public  measure  which 
looks  plausible  satisfies  him,  and  drifts  backward  and  forward  upon  the 
shifting  currents  of  expediency.  It  has  been  said  of  him  as  a  politician,  and 
we  believe  with  some  tiuth,  that  he  has  been  on  every  side  of  every  public 
question  that  has  come  up  save  one,  and  that  brings  us  to  another  objection 
to  him  as  a  candidate. 

"  He  is  a  thoroughgoing  bigoted  protectionist,  a  champion  of  one  of  the 


5O6  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

most  arbitrary  and  grinding  systems  of  monopoly  ever  known  in  any  country. 
Mr.  Greeley  is  nothing  if  not  a  protectionist. 

"  The  last  objection  to  Mr.  Greeley  which  we  shall  here  mention  is  the 
grossness  of  his  manners.  General  Grant  is  sometimes  complained  of  as  not 
filling  the  executive  chair  with  the  decorum  and  dignity  which  properly  belong 
to  the  place ;  but  his  deficiency  in  this  respect  is  the  deficiency  of  one  not 
accustomed  to  polished  society,  giving  little  heed  to  certain  conventionalities 
which  really  become  the  high  sphere  he  moves  in,  as  Mr.  Greeley  so  often  is. 

41  These  are  some  of  the  objections  which  will  occur  to  thoughtful  men  when 
they  hear  of  Mr.  Greeley's  nomination  ;  and  allowing  these  the  weight  which 
they  fully  deserve,  we  must  advise  our  readers  to  refuse  the  nomination  their 
support.  With  such  a  head  as  is  on  his  shoulders  the  affairs  of  the  nation 
could  not,  under  his  direction,  be  wisely  administered  ;  with  such  manners  as 
his,  they  could  not  be  administered  with  common  decorum ;  with  such 
associates  as  he  has  taken  to  his  bosom,  they  could  not  be  administered  with 
common  integrity," 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY. 

Its  Record  During  and  Since  the  War — Some  Nice  Tidbits  from  the  History 
of  Greeley's  Present  Allies — The  Essence  of  their  Policy  Then  the  Same 
as  Now — A  Democratic  Club  of  500,000 — Greeley's  New  York  Associates 
—Who  and  What  They  Are— Greeley  the  Ring  Candidate— That  Good, 
Honest  Soul — What  he  has  Promised  to  Do  for  Them — Frank  Blair  as 
Painted  by  H.  G. — The  Southern  Aristocrats,  Ditto — Some  of  Greeley's 
Western  Friends — Democratic  Record  on  Financial  Questions — On  Con 
gressional  Abuses — The  Original  Nominator  of  H.  G. — He  Favors  Repu 
diation  of  the  Yankee  War  Debt  and  a  Return  of  Negroes  to  Slavery — A 
Question  by  H.  G.  in  1864 — Will  he  Answer  it  in  1872  ? 

The  action  of  the  Democratic  party  at  Balti 
more,  in  nominating  Horace  Greeley  as  its  candi 
date  upon  his  secession  record  and  his  amnesty 
principles,  has  two  effects.  It  completely  stulti 
fies  the  course  of  those  "Liberal  Republicans"  who 
claim  to  be  still  Republicans,  and  who  arrogate  to 
themselves  much  virtue  for  breaking  up  the  Demo 
cratic  party  ;  and  it  also  makes  Greeley  distinct 
ively  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
just  as  Judge  Chase  would  have  been  in  1868,  if 
he  had  secured  the  nomination  which  he  then  so 
ardently  coveted.  Greeley  is  the  candidate  of  the 
regular  Democratic  organization.  Democratic  dis 
cipline  will  be  brought  to  bear  to  whip  voters  into 

(507) 


508  THE    STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

his  ranks,  and  Democratic  money,  doled  out  by 
Augustus  Schell  and  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  will  be 
used  to  buy  such  as  will  yield  to  no  other  incen 
tive.  The  friends  of  the  Democratic  party,  there 
fore,  are  Greeley's  friends,  and  the  friends  of  Gree- 
ley  are  its  friends. 

RECORD    OF    THE    DEMOCRACY. 

The  record  of  the  Democratic  party  prior  to  the 
Administration  of  James  Buchanan,  is  not  of  much 
account  in  this  connection,  since  all  national  issues 
assumed  a  new  phase  with  the  dawn  of  secession 
and  civil  strife.  It  will  be  recollected,  however, 
that  the  Democratic  party  (so  called  because  it 
was  not  democratic  but  oligarchic)  was  the  party 
of  Slavery  before  the  war.  and  that  ever  since  the 
firing  upon  Sumpter,  it  has  been  the  opponent  of 
all  measures  for  putting  down  the  Slaveholders' 
Rebellion,  and  for  realizing  the  results  of  the  de 
feat  of  that  rebellion.  Its  personnel  is  practically 
the  same  now  as  then  ;  and  its  perpetuation  of  it 
self  at  Baltimore — its  refusal  to  adopt  the  "pos 
sum"  policy  signifies  nothing  less  than  the  deter 
mination  to  keep  alive  the  aspirations  and  pur 
poses  of  1861-63-64-66,  and  those  years;  a  deter 
mination  which  is  doubtless  reinforced  by  confi 
dence  in  Greeley's  devotion  as  a  neophyte  to  their 
cause,  and  especially  by  his  promise  in  a  recent  let 
ter  to  a  Hartford  gentleman,  to  deal  out  the  loaves 
and  fishes  of  office  to  copperhead  Democrats  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  votes  which  they  cast 
for  him. 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  509 

We  will  refresh  the  recollection  of  the  reader 
with  a  few  facts  in  the  record  of  the  Democracy— 
and  but  a  few,  since  they  are  all  so  notorious  and 
so    uniformly   unpatriotic  as  to   be  an  uninviting 
theme  for  the  chronicler. 

BUCHANAN    AND    HIS   CABINET. 

In  the  winter  of  1860-1,  when  the  rebellion 
broke  out,  the  Democratic  party  was  in  power,  as  it 
now  seeks  to  be.  It  had  in  the  Presidential  chair 
an  old  fussy  man,  such  as  it  now  seeks  to  put  in, 
who  held,  as  Greeley  holds,  that  the  national  gov 
ernment  had  no  right  to  coerce  a  State  into  loyalty. 
That  fussy  old  man,  James  Buchanan,  had  very 
much  such  a  pro-Southern  cabinet  as  Greeley  may 
be  expected  to  appoint  if  he  succeeds  in  being 
elected  next  November.  In  this  cabinet  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  was  J.  B.  Floyd — the  same  who 
afterwards  ran  away  from  Grant  at  Fort  Donelson. 
Among  the  exploits  of  Floyd,  in  behalf  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy  and  the  Democratic  party, 
just  before  the  storm  broke,  was  to  transfer  from 
Northern  to  Southern  arsenals  105,000  stand  of 
muskets  and  10,000  rifles.  At  the  same  time  forty 
columbiads  and  four  32-pounders  were  moved  from 
Pittsburgh  to  Ship  Island,  La.,  and  seventy  col 
umbiads  and  seven  32-pounders  from  the  same 
foundries  to  Galveston,  although  the  fortifications 
at  Galveston,  on  which  the  guns  were  to  be  used, 
were  not  to  be  done  in  five  years.  At  the  same 
time,  also,  the  navy  of  the  United  States  was  by  the 
the  Secretary  of  that  Department  scattered  and 


5IO  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  vessels  assigned  either  to  Southern  ports,  where 
they  could  be  captured  by  the  Rebels,  or  to  remote 
stations,  whence  they  could  not  be  recalled  in 
months. 

Buchanan's  other  cabinet  officers  also  rallied  in 
support  of  the  rebellion.  Jeremiah  S.  Black — one 
of  Greeley's  supporters — then  Attorney  General, 
decided  solemnly  that  the  President  had  no  power 
to  call  out  the  militia;  though  a  committee  of  Con 
gress  appointed  that  winter  said  "  Yes,  the  power 
is  distinctly  conferred  by  the  statute  of  February 

28,1795.- 

President  Buchanan  informed  the  country,  in  his 
last  message,  Dec.  4,  1860,  that  "the  Constitution 
did  not  delegate  to  Congress  or  to  any  other 
department  of  the  Federal  Government,  the  power 
to  coerce  a  State  into  submission  which  is  attempt 
ing  to  withdraw,  or  has  actually  withdrawn  from 
the  Union." 

THE    DEMOCRATS    IN    CONGRESS. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  which  was  chosen  in 
1860,  did  not  take  their  seats  until  after  the  session 
of  March  4th  of  the  following  year,  and  that  the 
members  from  the  seceding  states  maintained  their 
seats  for  a  time,  thus  leaving  the  Democrats  a 
large  vote  in  each  house  until  near  the  close  of  the 
37th  Congress.  The  propositions  made  in  Congress 
during  that  eventful  winter,  with  a  view  of  settling 
with  the  South  by  compromise,  were  many  of  them 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  511 

disgraceful  to  American  patriotism.  Among  others, 
John  A.  McClernand,  now  Greeley's  chief  stump 
orator  for  Illinois,  and  who  came  near  being  Presi 
dent  of  his  Baltimore  Convention,  introduced  a 
resolution  in  favor  of  a  bill  indemnifying,  at  the 
expense  of  the  government,  the  owners  of  all  slaves 
who  had  escaped  from  freedom,  and  providing  for 
a  special  police,  paid  by  the  general  government- 
Massachusetts  contributing  to  the  fund  alike  with 
South  Carolina — for  the  prevention  of  any  further 
escapes. 

Noell,  of  Missouri,  introduced  a  resolution  pro 
posing  to  abolish  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States  and  establish  instead  a  triumvirate, 
to  be  chosen  from  three  sections — the  East,  West 
and  South  (this  with  a  view  to  keeping  New  Eng 
land  under),  and  also  to  restore  to  the  South  her 
former  prestige  in  the  Senate  by  subdividing  the 
Southern  states. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1861,  every  Democrat 
in  the  House  voted  for  a  constitutional  amendment 
which  should  say  that  "  No  amendment  shall  be 
made  to  the  Constitution  which  shall  authorize  or 
give  to  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere 
with  slavery." 

John  Cochrane  is  a  specimen  of  the  "Liberal 
Republicans"  who  have  joined  the  Democratic 
ranks  because  the  Republican  party  could  not  in 
decency  recognize  their  impertinent  claims  for  pre 
ferment.  He  was  only  an  interloper  in  the  Repub 
lican  camp  at  best.  In  December,  1860,  being  then 


512  THE   STRUGGLE   OF   '72. 

a  Democratic  Member  of  Congress,  he  defended 
Buchanan's  cowardly  message,  and  introduced  a 
joint  resolution  "  fully  concurring  with  the  Presi 
dent,  that  no  department  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  has  the  right  to  wage  war  against  a  seceding 
State,"  and  declaring  that  "a  just  conception  of  the 
Constitutional  authority  of  Congress  combines 
with  other  and  more  commanding  motives  [mean 
ing  love  for  slavery  and  slaveholders]  to  prescribe 
other  means  than  aggressive  and  coercive  warfare 
to  remedy  the  inconveniences  of  such  secession." 

This  unvarying  policy  of  favoring  the  South  and 
truckling  to  the  worst  demands  of  the  fire-eaters, 
continued  to  characterize  the  party,  even  after  act 
ive  hostilities  were  in  progress.  On  the  5th  of 
December,  1862,  S.  S.  Cox,  also  one  of  Mr.  Gree- 
ley's  supporters,  and  one  of  his  intimates,  intro 
duced  an  amendment  to  another  member's  resolu 
tion,  which  amendment  defined  as  "assassins"  "all 
men,  whether  of  the  North  or  South,  who  have 
been  instrumental  in  producing  the  present  war, 
and  especially  those,  in  or  out  of  Congress,  who 
have  been  guilty  of  flagrant  breaches  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  who  are  not  in  favor  of  establishing 
the  Union  as  it  was  and  the  Constitution  as  it  is;'' 
and  all  the  Democrats,  except  two,  voted  for  this 
amendment ! 

INSULT   TO    INJURY  \ 

Buchanan,  in  his  last  message  to  Congress,  pro 
posed  the  enactment  of  "an  explanatory  Constitu 
tional  amendment,  containing,  i.  An  express  recog- 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  513 

nition  of  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  where  it 
now  exists,  or  may  hereafter  exist;  2.  The  duty  of 
protecting  this  right  in  all  our  territories ;  and  3. 
"A  like  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  master  to  his 
slave,"  and  a  forcing  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
upon  all  the  States,  as  a  part  of  their  State  codes. 
Here  is  Democratic  State  Rights  for  you  in  all  its 
original  purity ! 

Propositions  like  this  came  in  by  the  dozen 
during  the  first  few  months  of  the  Rebellion.  For 
tunately,  the  very  impetuosity  of  the  Southern 
traitors  defeated  their  cause,  by  preventing  the  en 
actment  of  any  of  these  suicidal  propositions.  It 
did  not,  however,  prevent  the  Democrats  in  Con 
gress  and  elsewhere  from  evincing,  on  all  conven 
ient  occasions  their  sympathy  with  the  South.  The 
Democratic  Members  of  Congress  voted  solid,  or 
nearly  so,  against  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the 
alleged  abuse  of  the  executive  power  as  to  the 
South ;  against  a  resolution  censuring  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  for  sending  off  men-of-war,  so 
that  they  could  not  be  used  to  put  down  the  rebel 
lion  ;  against  the  construction  of  seven  steam  war 
vessels ;  against  a  resolution  approving  the  course 
of  Major  Anderson  in  defending  Fort  Sumpter ; 
and,  in  general,  against  every  measure  proposed 
during  the  prevalence  of  the  Rebellion,  for  putting 
down  that  Rebellion  or  strengthening  the  Govern 
ment. 

OUTSIDE   OF   CONGRESS. 

Outside  of  Congress  the  Democrats  were  equally 


514  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  72. 

active.  Mr.  Greeley's  friend  and  advocate,  Fer 
nando  Wood,  then  mayor  of  New  York,  sent  a 
special  message  to  the  Common  Council  of  that 
city,  proposing  to  secede  from  the  Union  and  join 
the  Confederacy — the  latter  clause  of  the  proposi 
tion  being  implied.  In  1863  the  New  York  News 
(Ben.  Wood's  paper)  and  the  Brooklyn  Eagle— 
both  of  them  among  the  earliest  and  most  earnest 
advocates  of  Greeley  for  the  Presidency,  were  pre 
sented  by  the  grand  jury  of  their  respective  counties 
for  trial  for  disloyalty. 

In  the  year  last  mentioned,  the  Democrats  were 
better  organized  than  they  have  been  of  late.  It 
appears  from  testimony  taken  by  a  Commission 
over  which  Judge  Advocate  General  Holt  presided, 
that  there  were  in  the  Northwestern  States  500,000 
staunch  Democrats  compacted  into  organizations 
known  variously  as  the  Order  of  American 
Knights,  Sons  of  Liberty,  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle,  etc.,  two-thirds  of  whom  were  furnished  with 
arms,*  and  all  of  them  banded  together  by  string 
ent  oaths  and  working  under  elaborate  forms,  like 
the  White  Brotherhood,  or  Ku-Klux  Klan,  of  later 
days  in  the  South.  The  number  above  given  is  the 
estimate  of  C.  L.  Vallandigham,  who  was  himself  a 
high  officer  of  the  order.  The  object  of  this  fine 
Democratic  organization,  as  elicited  from  the  testi 
mony  of  numerous  witnesses  and  summarized  by 
Mr.  Holt,  were  as  follows: 

i.  To  aid  soldiers  of  the  Union  army  to  desert  and  to  harbor  and  protect 
deserters. 

*  See  testimony  of  witness  Clayton  and  others  in  Mr.  Holt's  report. 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  515 

2.  To  discourage  enlistments  and  to  help  resist  drafts. 

3.  To  circulate  disloyal  and  treasonable  publications. 

4.  To  furnish  intelligence  of  Union  movements  to  the  enemy. 

5.  To  aid  the  enemy  by  recruiting  for  them  within  our  lines. 

6.  To  furnish  the  Rebels  with  arms,  etc. 

7.  To  co-operate  with  raids  and  invasions  from  the  South. 

8.  The  destruction  of  government  property. 

9.  The  destruction  of  private  property. 

10.  Assassination  and  murder 

11.  The  establishment  of  a  Northwestern  Confederacy. 

There  have  been  studious  efforts  made  since  the 
war  to  cry  down  the  facts  about  these  organizations 
and  represent  them  as  mere  myths.  They  were 
undoubted  realities.  The  draft  riots  of  Wisconsin 
and  New  York  city,  the  Camp  Douglas  plot  in 
Chicago,  and  other  like  demonstrations,  were  speci 
mens  of  their  handiwork.  The  members  of  the 
O.  A.  K.,  the  K.  G.  C,  etc.,  are  still  at  large*  and  at 
work  for  Greeley. 

IN    CONGRESS    SINCE    THE    WAR. 

The  Thirteenth  Constitutional  Amendment, 
abolishing  slavery,  was  adopted  by  the  U.  S.  Senate 
on  February  10,  1864,  every  Democratic  member 
voting  against  it  except  two,  and  those  are  now 
shelved  by  their  party.  In  the  House,  65  Demo 
crats  voted  against  it,  and  only  3  in  its  favor. 
Among  the  noes  were  Brooks,  Cox,  Wood,  Rand 
all,  Eldridge  and  others,  now  at  work  for  Greeley. 

In  1868  the  Democrats,  though  still  maintaining 
their  reactionary  policy  on  Southern  questions, 
abandoned  their  time-honored  position  on  the  tariff, 
and  declared  for  incidental  protection. 

*  See  Chicago    Tribune  of  December  4,  1871,  for  murders  committed  by 
the  Indiana  Ku-Klux,  now  important  allies  of  the  newspaper  named. 


516  THE    STRUGGLE   OF   '72. 

In  January,  1870,  the  entire  Democratic  vote  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress  was 
cast  in  favor  of  a  resolution  requiring  the  payment 
of  the  Five-twenty  bonds  in  greenbacks  (then  at 
about  25  per  cent,  discount)  and  declaring  that  the 
Government  "squanders  millions"  by  paying  par 
upon  these  bonds.  On  the  i6th  of  May,  1870,  a 
resolution  declaring  the  i4th  and  I5th  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  valid  and  obligatory  upon  all 
the  departments  of  the  Government,  received  the 
votes  of  only  four  Democrats  in  the  House,  while 
thirty-two  voted  against  it. 

Indeed,  the  uniform  record  of  the  party  upon 
the  questions  thus  far  referred  to  and  as  illustrated 
by  the  examples  cited,  is  well  recollected  by  all  who 
have  followed  the  political  history  of  our  country 
during  the  past  twelve  years.  With  regard  to  those 
public  vices  which  it  has  been  their  custom  (and  it 
is  now)  to  charge  upon  the  Republican  party,  such 
as  legislative  jobbery,  the  abuse  of  the  franking 
and  other  Congressional  privileges,  the  Democrats 
have  been  much  more  reckless  and  unscrupulous 
than  the  Republicans,  and  it  is  to  their  practices 
that  a  large  measure  of  the  odium  is  due. 

WHO  ARE  GREELEY'S  FRIENDS? 

The  record  of  some  of  these  has  been  already 
celebrated  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs.  Before 
ever  Greeley  sold  himself  out  to  the  Democracy, 
and  while  making  his  loudest  plaints  as  the  most 
virtuous  and  an  unproperly  suppressed  member  of 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  517 

the  Republican  organization,  his  affiliations  were  of 
the  most  scandalous  sort.  When  he  tried  to  split 
up  the  Republican  party  in  New  York  in  1871,  and 
descended  upon  the  Syracuse  Convention  with  the 
purpose  of  capturing  that  organization,  and  with  it 
some  spoils  for  the  Fenton  crowd,  he  was  backed 
by  a  bogus  Central  Committee,  recently  organized 
under  his  lead,  and  which  contained  forty-one  pen 
sioners  of  Boss  Tweed  and  his  Tammany  Ring. 
Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  Greeley's  adherents 
at  that  time  were  Benj.  F.  Manniere,  "  Hank" 
Smith,  Fire  Commissioner  Galway,  D.  D.  Conover, 
Rufus  F.  Andrews,  Tom.  E.  Stewart,  Waldo  Hutch- 
ins  and  John  Cochrane,  all  beneficiaries  of  Tam 
many.  These  were  his  associates  and  the  men  in 
whose  behalf  he  labored  when  claiming  to  represent 
the  double-refined  purity  of  Republicanism  ;  what 
can  be  expected  now  that  he  has  fallen  absolutely 
into  the  arms  of  Democracy  ? 

Among  the  first  reinforcements  to  join  his 
standard  after  the  Cincinnati  affair  were  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Brooklyn  Ring — a  more  compact 
organization  of  robbers  than  Tammany,  and  equally 
successful.  The  head  of  this  is  Wm.  C.  Kingsley. 
owner  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle,  and  "  King  of  the 
Ring."  His  paper  favored  Greeley  (why?)  even 
before  the  Cincinnati  convention. 

To  the  Tammany  and  Brooklyn  rings,  add.  as 
specimens  of  Greeley's  supporters  in  his  own  state, 
such  men  as  Orange  S.  Winans,  the  renegade  Re 
publican  legislator  who  sold  out  his  party  for  $5,000 


518  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

at  Albany,  in  the  spring  of  1871  ;  John  Morrissey, 
the  professional  gambler,  who  has  always  clung  to 
Greeley  as  a  political  affinity,  and  who,  like  most 
professional  gamblers,  "knows  his  man";  Jo.  How 
ard,  forger  of  proclamations,  who  was  sent  to  Fort 
Lafayette  for  one  of  his  acts  of  wanton  disloyalty ; 
and  -  — .  But  the  list  defiles  our  pages. 

Geo.  N.  Saunders,  the  notorious  rebel  agent,  who 
was  connected  with  a  plot  to  burn  Northern  cities 
and  rob  Northern  banks  as  a  Confederate  war  meas 
ure,  has  lately  returned  from  Europe  to  make  the 
canvass  for  his  friend  Greeley,  He  flew  at  once  to 
Chappaqua  on  arriving  on  these  shores,  and  has 
since  been  an  intimate  associate  of  the  great  Re 
form  canoidate,  both  in  private  and  public. 

Among  the  most  active  participants  in  the  Cin 
cinnati  convention  was  Alexander  Long,  expelled 
from  Congress  for  disloyalty  in  1863. 

On  the  National  Executive  Committee  which  is 
to  direct  the  campaign  (and  placed  there  because 
he  is  expected  to  contribute  $100,000  to  make 
votes  with)  is  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  of  Chicago, 
who  attempted  to  found  a  political  theological 
seminary  at  Chicago,  and  did  contribute  $25,000 
toward  General  Lee's  military  school  at  Lexington, 
Virginia,  for  the  education  of  soldiers  for  the  next 
Confederate  army. 

A  man  without  whom  Greeley  could  not  have 
been  nominated  at  Cincinnati,  is  Henry  C.  War- 
moth,  the  most  corrupt  of  the  Southern  carpet-bag 
governors,  and  the  head  of  the  most  absolute  local 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  519 

monarchy  ever  known  in  the  United  States — the 
man  who  engages  in  public  brawls,  and  who  says  of 
his  constituency  that "  they  are  all  demoralized  ;  that 
they  are  either  -  -  knaves  or  -  fools,  and 

that  he,  by-      -knows  how   to    handle  them"(!) 
Warmoth  is  the  Louisiana  member  of  the  '  Liberal" 
Executive  Committee,  and  will  have  any  place  that 
he  wants  under  Greeley  when  the  latter  is  elected. 
In  Missouri,  Mr.  Greeley's  most  active  supporter 
is  the  Lexington  Caucasian — a  paper  which,  indeed, 
claims  the  merit  of  having  been   the   only  one  to 
propose  beforehand  the  precise  ticket  which   was 
nominated  at  Cincinnati.     This  paper  keeps  stand 
ing  at  the  head  of  its  editorial  columns,  displayed 
in  very  bold  letters,  the  following  stuff: 
STATE    SOVEREIGNTY !! 
WHITE     SUPREMACY! 

REPUDIATION!! 


THIS     IS     LIBERTY!! 


OUR    MOTTO: 
NEVER   DESPAIR   OF   THE   REPUBLIC  ! 

OUR    PLATFORM: 

THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    i860,    AND   THE    RIGHTS    <>F 
THE    STATES ! 

OUR    DOCTRINES: 

THIS  IS  A  WHITE  MAN'S  GOVERNMENT,  MADE  BY 
WHITE  MEN  FOR  WHITE  MEN,  AND  THEIR  POS 
TERITY  FOR  EVER ! 

DOWN   WITH   THE   FIFTEENTH    BEDAMNEDMENT! ! 


tion  of  —    

of  an  Unconstitutional  and  Horrid  Purpose  ! 


52O  THE   STRUGGLE   OF    72. 

DOWN   WITH   BOND-HOLDERS  AND   TAXATION! 

Subordination  of  the  Military  to  the  Civil  Authorities! 

DOWN  WITH  THE  SATRAPS! 


EQUAL  TAXATION  AND  THE  RIGHTFUL  REPRESENTATION  OF 
ALL  THE  STATES,   OR 

ANOTHER     REBELLION!! 


Revolution  must  be  met  by  Counter  Revolution! — Force  by  Force! 
Violence  by  Violence  ! — And  Usurpation  should  be  overthrown, 
if  need  be,  by  the  Bayonet ! 


Down  with   Test  Oaths  and  Registrations! 

And  Horace  Greeley  is  the  man  through  whom 
it  proposes  to  carry  out  this  extraordinary  pro 
gramme  ! 

There  are  some  men  to  be  counted  in  the  Gree 
ley  party  (at  least  were,  early  in  the  campaign)  who 
have  respectable,  or  semi-respectable,  records  in 
politics.  They  are,  however,  chiefly  of  the  class 
called  soreheads — disappointed  Federal  office  seek 
ers,  or  men  shelved  by  their  local  party  associates. 

The  most  valued  of  Greeley's  allies,  perhaps, 
are  the  Blair  family,  of  whom  the  Washington  cor 
respondent  of  the  Boston  Globe  (an  independent 
sheet)  writes : 

"It  is  curious  to  notice  how  the  Blair  family  come  in  as  marplots  and  Cat- 
alines.  It  was  the  presence  of  Montgomery  Blair  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet 
that  brought  about  the  revolt  of  Wade  aud  Winter  Davis,  as  well  as  the 
Cleveland  Convention  with  the  Fremont  nomination.  The  removal  of  that 
Blair  was  the  price  paid  by  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  withdrawal  of  General  Fre 
mont  as  a  Presidential  candidate.  It  was  the  Blairs  who  played  Mephisto- 
pheles  to  Andrew  Johnson.  After  his  drunken  fiasco  on  inauguration  day, 
he  retired  to  Silver  Springs,  and  there  passed  entirely  under  the  Blair  influ 
ence.  Montgomery  was  his  chief  kitchen  cabinet  adviser ;  the  effect  of  such 
advice  has  since  become  history.  Now  they  appear  again  ;  this  time  to 
break  up  the  party  both  Montgomery  and  Frank  P.  helped  to  make  and 
mold,  and  which  they  have  ever  since  been  seeking  to  betray." 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  521 

GREELEY    ON   THE    MAN    WHO    NOMINATED    HIM. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  Frank  Blair  was 
the  principal  intriguer  along  with  Gratz  Brown,  to 
log-roll  Greeley's  nomination  through  the  Conven 
tion,  along  with  Brown's.  Here  is  what  Greeley 
said  of  Blair  in  the  Tribune  of  May  7,  1864: 

"An  outright  secessionist  is  wickeder  and  more  dangerous  than  Frank 
Blair;  but  his  position  seems  to  us  meaner  and  more  glaringly  inconsistent 
than  that  of  Jeff.  Davis.  He  would  first  use  the  blacks  to  subjugate  the 
traitors,  and  then  combine  with  the  traitors  to  trample  on  and  deny  all  polit 
ical  rights  to  the  blacks." 

When  Greeley  says  of  Blair  that  "his  position  is 
meaner  and  more  glaring  that  that  of  Jeff.  Davis," 
he  justifies  the  inference  that  he  Greeley  would 
not  go  so  far  to  bail  Blair  as  he  did  to  bail  Jeff. 
Davis ;  and  yet,  after  all  this  denunciation  of  the 
blatant  Missourian,  and  a  thousand  times  as  much 
more,  which  he  heaped  upon  him  after  his  famous 
Brodhead  letter,  and  during  the  campaign  of  1868, 
Mr.  Greeley  does  not  hesitate  to  accept,  chiefly 
from  these  same  traitors,  a  nomination  which  he 
owes  mainly  to  the  good  offices  of  this  same  "mean," 
disreputable  and  "glaringly  inconsistent "  Blair ! 

BLAIR    TO    BRODHEAD. 

The  "Brodhead  letter"  referred  to — written  a 
few  days  before  Blair's  nomination  by  the  Demo 
crats  at  New  York  for  Vice-President,  contained 
this  passage,  which  was  not  qualified  or  toned 
down  in  the  least  by  the  context,  nor  afterwards 
explained  by  Blair : 

"  The  reconstruction  policy  of  the  Radicals  will  be  complete  before  the 


522  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     7 2. 

next  election  ;  the  States  so  long  excluded  will  have  been  admitted,  negro 
suffrage  established  and  the  carpet-baggers  installed  in  their  seats  in  both 
houses  of  Congress.  There  is  no  possibility  of  changing  the  political  char 
acter  of  the  Senate,  even  if  the  Democrats  should  elect  their  President  and 
a  majority  of  the  popular  branch  of  Congress.  We  cannot  therefore  undo 
the  Radical  plan  of  reconstruction  by  Congressional  action  ;  the  Senate  will 
continue  a  bar  to  its  repeal  ;  must  we  submit  to  it  ?  How  can  it  be  over 
thrown  ?  It  can  only  be  overthrown  by  the  authority  of  the  Executive,  who 
is  sworn  to  maintain  the  Constitution,  and  who  will  fail  of  his  duty  if  he 
allows  the  Constitution  to  perish  under  a  series  of  Congressional  enactments 
which  are  in  palpable  violation  of  its  fundamental  principles. 

"If  the  President  elected    by  the  Democracy  enforces,  or  permits  others 

to  enforce,  these  reconstruction  acts,  the  Radicals,  by  the  accession  of  twenty 

spurious  Senators  and  fifty  Representatives,  will  control   both   branches  of 

Congress,  and   his  Administration  will  be  as  powerless  as   the  present  one 

of  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  There  is  but  one  way  to  restore  the  Government  and  the  Constitution, 
and  that  is  for  thePiesident(Gree\eyl!)  to  declare  these  acts  null  and  void,  com 
pel  the  army  to  undo  its  usurpation  at  the  South,  disperse  the  carpet-bag 
State  Governments,  allow  the  white  people  to  reorganize  their  own  govern 
ments  and  elect  Senators  and  Representatives." 

A    PERTINENT    QUESTION. 

In  the  Tribune  of  May  4,  1864,  on  one  of  the 
days  when  Mr.  Greeley  felt  more  like  helping  the 
Republican  party  than  he  did  like  beating  Lincoln, 
he  wrote  these  words,  which  especially  the  last 
clause,  with  names  in  brackets,  altered  a  trifle,  is 
well  suited  to  the  present  time : 

"  Some  of  us  think  Slavery  might  and  should  have  been  crowded  to  the 
wall  much  faster  and  more  sternly  than  it  has  been,"  [the  trouble  with  "some 
of  us"  this  year,  however,  is  of  an  opposite  sort,  viz. :  That  Slavery,  in  the 
form  of  terrorism,  has  been  pushed  too  hard];  "Supposing,"  continues  Mr. 
Greeley,  "  supposing  this  true  ;  should  we  make  anything  by  substituting  for 
our  present  Administration  one  whereof  [Frank  Blair,  Beauregard,  Warmoth, 
Letcher  of  Virginia,  Sat.  Clark,  Boss  Tweed,  the  Brooklyn  Ring,  et  id  omne 
genus]  are  the  chief  spokesmen  and  champions?" 

GREELEY    ON    HIS    SOUTHERN    SUPPORTERS. 

One  great  end  of  Greeley 's  candidacy,  as  claimed 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    PARTY.  523 

by  his  advocates,  is  to  "  break  the  sway  of  the 
carpet-baggers"  at  the  South,  and  to  set  up  the 
"respectable  element"  of  the  Southern  population 
in  their  place.  From  this  respectable  element  they 
expect  such  support  as  will  enable  them  to  carry 
most  of  the  Southern  States.  Here  is  Greeley's 
opinion  of  this  "  respectable  element,"  after  he  had 
been  among  them  in  1871 — only  a  year  ago.  We 
extract  it  from  an  "  H.  G."  letter  in  the  Tribune, 
published  about  the  time  that  Greeley  returned 
from  his  trip  through  the  South. 

"  The  ancient  aristocracy  of  the  South  remind  me  of  the  Federal  Squire 
archy  of  our  country  after  Jefferson's  election  as  President.  Instead  of 
studying  the  new  situation  and  seeking  to  master  it,  they  content  themselves 
with  endless  and  fruitless  complainings.  They  lament  the  sway  of  the  "  carpet 
baggers"  over  their  late  slaves,  but  take  no  effective  measures  to  counteract 
it.  Rogues  as  some  of  the  "  carpet-baggers"  are,  they  are  all  zealous  for  the 
education  of  the  Blacks,  while  the  submerged  aristocracy  grudge  every  penny 
assessed  on  them  for  building  school-houses  and  paying  teachers  as  though 
it  were  thrown  into  the  sea.  The  noblest,  purest,  mrst  intelligent  women  of 
New  England,  who  have  come  down  here  to  teach  Black  children,  are 
shunned  and  banned  by  the  aristocracy,  as  though  they  were  camp  followers 
of  Sherman's  army,  and  being  thus  doomed  to  associate  only  with  Blacks, 
and  live  with  them,  are  actually  charged  with  this  as  a  betrayal  of  low  tastes 
when  it  is  a  dictate -of  stern  necessity." 

And  more  to  the  same  effect 


CHAPTER   XXVIL 

THE  BALTIMORE  CONVENTION. 

Its  Composition — A  Cut  and  Dried  Affair — To  Nominate  or  to  Endorse  : — 
That  is  the  Question — Organization — "  Dixie"  for  Music — Greeley  Swal 
lowed  —  Likewise  the  Cincinnati  Platform  —  Delaware,  Pennsylvania, 
Georgia,  Remonstrate  in  Vain — A  Sudden  Adjournment. 

The  Baltimore  Convention  is  a  short  horse,  soon 
curried.  The  delegates  had,  nearly  all,  been  in 
structed  to  vote  for  Greeley  and  Brown,  and  there 
was  nothing  left  for  them  to  do  but  to  meet  and  go 
through  with  the  form.  The  only  question  was 
what  that  form  should  be — whether  to  nominate 
formally  or  to  simply  endorse  the  Cincinnati  nomin 
ations  and  platform,  appoint  an  auxiliary  commit 
tee,  and  adjourn.  The  latter  policy  was  urged 
with  great  earnestness  by  the  "  Liberal"  leaders 
present,  but  the  Democrats  proper  would  not  listen 
to  it  for  a  moment.  The  "  endorsing"  policy  ob 
tained  no  show  at  all  in  the  Convention,  and  the 
four-year-long  efforts  of  Horace  White  and  others 
to  persuade  the  Democracy  to  go  out  of  business 
were  thus  brought  to  naught.  The  Democrats 
reasoned  that  Greeley  was  a  good  enough  Demo 
crat  for  them — that  recent  converts  usually  proved 
more  zealous  in  enforcing  the  party  creed  than 

(524) 


THE    BALTIMORE    CONVENTION.  525 

older  members  ;  and  that  the  Democracy,  whose 
platform  now  was  anything  to  beat  Grant,  and  re 
verse  his  policy — a  platform  to  which  Greeley 
heartily  subscribed,  could  afford  to  hold  up  its  head 
as  high  as  ever. 

THE    LIBERAL    PLAN    SCORNED. 

This  course  prevailed.  The  convention  met  at 
twelve  o'clock  on  the  Qth  of  June,  in  Ford's  Opera 
House.  It  was  called  to  order  by  August  Belmont, 
Chairman  of  the  National  Executive  Committee, 
who  had  been  the  chief  manipulator  of  the  party 
in  Seymour  and  Blair  days — in  McClellan  and  Pen- 
dleton  days,  an<d  so  on  back.  The  leaders  gener 
ally  were  equally  veterans  in  the  service ;  though 
some  effort  had  apparently  been  made  to  leave  out 
from  the  published  proceedings  the  names  to  which 
odious  records  are  attached. 

THE    OLD,    OLD    STORY. 

Mr.  Belmont,  in  his  opening  speech,  of  course 
made  pathetic  allusions  to  the  "Caesarism  and  cen 
tralization,"  which,  he  said,  "are  undermining  the 
very  foundations  of  our  federal  system,  and  are 
sweeping  away  the  constitutional  bulwarks  erected 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic. 
These  abuses,"  said  Belmont,  "have  become  so 
glaring  that  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  the  Re 
publican  party  have  severed  themselves  from  the 
Radical  wing,  which  is  trying  to  fasten  upon  the 
country  another  four  years'  reign  of  corruption, 
usurpation  and  despotism,  and  whatever  individual 


526  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72, 

opinion  we  may  entertain  as  to  the  choice  of  the 
candidates,"  we  must,  etc.,  etc. 

ORGANIZATION. 

Mr.  Belmont  nominated  a  Mr.  Randolph,  of  Vir 
ginia,  said  to  be  a  grandson  of  Jefferson,  as  tem 
porary  Chairman.  Afterwards  the  convention  was 
permanently  organized  by  the  election  of  Hon. 
James  R.  Doolittle,  of  Wisconsin — the  right  hand 
man  of  Andrew  Johnson  during  the  administra 
tion  of  that  worthy,  as  permanent  Chairman,  with 
E.  O.  Perrin,  of  New  York,  A.  T.  Whittlesey,  of 
Indiana,  Thos.  H.  Moore,  of  Maryland,  and  Jno- 
C.  Barr,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Secretaries.  The 
Vice-Presidents  were  as  follows : 

Alabama,  Wm.  M.  Bird ;  Arkansas,  D.  W.  Carroll  ;  California,  Hon. 
Eugene  Casserly  ;  Connecticut,  D.  A.  Daniels  ;  Delaware,  J.  H.  Payne ; 
Florida,  Thos.  Rundell ;  Georgia,  H.  L.  Benning  ;  Illinois,  Wm.  M.  Gon- 
ard ;  Indiana,  Bayless  W.  Hanna ;  Iowa,  Jno.  H.  Peters  ;  Kansas,  Isaac 
Sharp  ;  Kentucky,  G.  H.  Dore  ;  Louisiana,  B.  F.  Taylor  ;  Maine,  Wm.  H. 
McCrelles  ;  Maryland,  R.  T.  Banks  ;  Massachusetts,  D.  D.  Brodhead  ;  Mich 
igan,  E.  H.  Lathrop ;  Minnesota,  Wm.  Lee  ;  Mississippi,  J.  W.  D.  Watson  ; 
Missouri,  Silas  Woodson  ;  Nebraska.  Jno.  Black  ;  Nevada,  N.  B.  Weyman  ; 
New  Hampshire,  G.  M.  W.  Pitman  ;  New  Jersey,  Albert  H.  S.  Lape  ;  New 
York,  Thomas  Kinsella ;  North  Carolina,  R.  T.  Armfield  ;  Ohio,  Alfred 
Gaither ;  Oregon,  E.  F.  Colby ;  Pennsylvania,  Wm.  McMullen  ;  Rhode  Isl 
and,  Lyman  Pierce  ;  South  Carolina,  Wm.  Aiken  ;  Tennessee,  Neils  Brown; 
Texas,  J.  W.  Henderson  ;  Vermont,  W.  T.  Horiben  ;  Virginia,  Robt.  Ould  ; 
West  Virginia,  Allen  T.  Caperton  ;  Wisconsin,  H.  H.  Gray  ;  Dakota,  Bart- 
lett  Thripp  ;  District  of  Columbia,  Richard  T.  Merrick ;  Idaho,  B.  F.  Pat 
terson  ;  New  Mexico,  Chas.  P.  Chaveo. 

After  a  half  hour  speech  from  the  Chairman,  a 
Committee  on  Resolutions  was  constituted,  a  great 
flood  of  independent  resolutions  presented,  and 
the  National  Executive  Committee  appointed,  after 
which  an  adjournment  was  had. 


THE    BALTIMORE    CONVENTION.  527 

THE    COMMITTEE. 

The  members  of  the  National  Committee  are  as 
follows : 

Alabama,  Thos.  A.  Walker,  Jacksonville  ;  Arkansas,  S.  R.  Cockrell,  Pine 
Bluffs ;  California,  F.  McCoppin,  San  Francisco  ;  Connecticut,  Wm.  H. 
Barnum,  Lime  Rock  ;  Delaware,  Chas.  Beasten,  Odessa  ;  Florida,  Chas.  E. 
Dyke,  Talahessee ;  Georgia,  A.  R.  Wright,  Augusta ;  Illinois,  Cyrus  H. 
McCormick,  Chicago  ;  Indiana,  Thos.  Dowling,  Terre  Haute  ;  Iowa,  M.  M. 
Hall,  Dubuque ;  Kansas,  Isaac  Eaton,  Leavenworth ;  Kentucky,  H.  D. 
McHenry,  Hartford  ;  Louisiana,  H.  D.  Ogden,  New  Orleans ;  Maine,  D.  T. 
M.  Sweet,  Portland  ;  Maryland,  A.  Leo  Knott,  Baltimore  ;  Massachusetts, 

F.  O.  Priner,  Boston  ;  Michigan,  Wm.  A.  Moore,  Detroit ;  Minnesota,  Wm. 
Lochren,  Minneapolis  ;  Mississippi,  J.  H.  Sharp,  Columbus  ;  Missouri,  John 

G.  Priest,  St.  Louis  ;  Nebraska,  G.  L.  Miller,  Omaha  ;  Nevada,  Thos.  H. 
Williams,  Virginia  City;  New  Hampshire,  M.  V.  B.  Edgerly.  Manchester; 
New  Jersey,  T.  F.  Randolph,  Morristown  ;  New  York,  A.  Schell,  New  York; 
North  Carolina,  M.  W.  Ransom,  Weldon  ;  Ohio,  J.  G.  Johnson,  Columbus ; 
Oregon,   R.  J.  Ladd,  Portland  ;    Pennsylvania,    Jas.  D.  Barr,   Pittsburgh ; 
Rhode  Island,  Gideon    Bradford,    Providence ;    South  Carolina,    Thos.    G. 
Simmons,  Charleston  ;  Tennessee,  Wm.  R.  Bales,  Nashville  ;  Texas.  F.  S. 
Stockdale,  Indianola ;  Vermont,  H.  B.  Smith,  Milton ;  Virginia,  Jno.  Goode, 
Norfolk ;    West  Virginia,   J.   B.   Hoge,   Martinsburg ;    Wisconsin,  Geo.   H. 
Paul,  Milwaukee. 

The  displacement  of  Mr.  Belmont  from  the 
committee  and  the  substitution  of  Mr.  Schell 
created  some  hard  feelings  among  the  New  York 
delegation,  but  was  smilingly  acquiesced  in  by  Mr. 
Belmont,  who  is  doubtless  glad  to  be  relieved  from 
the  large  pecuniary  obligations  which  have  hitherto 
rested  upon  him  as  chairman  and  moneyed  man 
of  the  committee,  and  also  from  the  odium  which 
so  prominent  an  advocacy  of  Greeley  would  bring 
him  in  financial  circles.  Mr.  Schell  is  a  very  wealthy 
man,  having  made  millions  of  dollars  in  a  govern 
ment  contract,  under  Andrew  Johnson.  Mr.  Storey, 
of  the  Chicago  Times,  a  former  valuable  member  of 


528  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

the  committee,  had  chosen  to  forego  that  honor 
henceforth,  rather  than  support  the  nomination  of 
Greeley.  The  members  of  this  committee,  so  far 
as  known  to  the  writer,  are  of  Copperhead  antece 
dents. 

THE  PLATFORM AND  TROUBLE. 

In  the  evening  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
met  and  voted  to  adopt  the  Cincinnati  philippic  as 
a  platform.  Only  three  States — Delaware,  Missis 
sippi  and  Georgia — voted  against  this.  The  pro 
gramme  thus  agreed  upon  was  ratified  by  the  Con 
vention  on  the  following  day  ;  but  not  until  Senator 
Bayard,  of  Delaware,  a  member  of  the  Platform 
Committee,  and  speaking  for  the  Delaware  dele 
gation,  had  made  a  very  earnest  speech  against 
"  the  adoption  of  the  language  of  a  platform  made 
by  other  men  not  of  the  same  political  faith  with 
the  convention."  Other  members  rose  to  remon 
strate  in  the  same  manner,  but  a  call  for  the  previ 
ous  question  had  been  made  and  carried  ;  which 
shut  off  debate,  and  carried  the  second-hand  plat 
form  through  under  the  gag  law.  The  vote  by  which 
the  previous  question  was  seconded  was  573  to 
159;  and  the  platform  was  adopted  by  662  to  70. 
The  scene,  pending  the  discussion  and  voting,  was 
one  of  great  turbulence. 

A    NOMINATION AND    CLAP-TRAP. 

After  the  platform  was  swallowed,  the  next  thing 
in  order  was  to  swallow  the  candidate  which  had 


THE    BALTIMORE    CONVENTION.  529 

been  prepared  for  the  patient ;  and  an  Illinois 
gentleman  named  Snowhook,  who  had  been  bob 
bing  up  at  frequent  intervals  and  nominating  Hor 
ace  Greeley  off-hand,  was  now  allowed  to  do  so  pro 
forma,  and  the  convention  proceeded  to  swallow 
its  leek,  "  in  token  of  revenge."  The  vote  resulted 
as  follows  : 

Horace  Greeley _ 686 

Jeremiah  S.  Black _ 21 

James  A.  Bayard _ _   16 

W.  S.  Groesbeck 2 

Blank 7 

Total 732 

Upon  the  announcement  of  this  result  an  attempt 
was  made  to  imitate  the  thrilling  dramatic  features 
which  accompanied  the  renomination  of  General 
Grant  at  Philadelphia.  A  motion  was  made,  by  a 
heart-sick  Pennsylvanian  (who  afterwards  swore 
point  blank  that  he  would  not  vote  for  Greeley)  to 
make  the  nomination  unanimous ;  but  this  was 
negatived  by  the  staunch  Delawareans  and  by  many 
Southern  delegates.  Then  a  canvass  was  lowered 
away  from  the  flies  of  the  theater  stage,  on  which 
was  a  vision  of  the  White  House;  and  the  band 
struck  up  "The  Battle  Cry  of  Freedom."  A 
newspaper  correspondent,  writing  from  the  scene 
immediately  afterwards,  said  of  the  musical  feature 
of  the  Convention  and  the  result  upon  that  body's 
enthusiasm  : 

"  A  significant  feature  in  the  convention  to-day  was  the  manner  in  which 
the  popular  airs  were  received.  Previous  to  opening  the  convention  this 
morning  the  band  played  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  "  Red,  White  and  Blue," 
"  Marching  Through  Georgia,"  etc.,  but  they  received  no  notice.  Finally, 


530  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

however,  when  "  Dixie"  and  "The  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,"  were  performed,  the 
audience  broke  out  in  a  most  violent  manner,  and  cheered  the  airs  to  the 
echo.  In  fine,  the  convention  did  not  display  enough  enthusiasm  over 
anything  of  a  national  character  to  charge  a  bottle  of  pop.  But  all  allusions 
to  the  south  and  southern  soldiers  were  loudly  applauded,  showing  clearly 
enough  the  composition  and  spirit  of  the  convention." 

With  a  few  further  formaliti'es,  the  convention 
adjourned  sine  die,  after  a  painfully  short  and  em 
barrassed  session. 

This  convention  also  had  its  side-show — an 
assembly  of  Irreconcilables  who  met  in  a  neiglv 
boring  hall,  under  the  presidency  of  another 
Bayard — Hon.  Samuel  J.,  of  New  Jersey.  They 
adopted  an  address  and  voted  to  call  a  national 
convention  to  be  held  at  Louisville  on  the  3d  of 
September  to  take  advantage  of  any  new  phase 
which  the  situation  might  assume  at  or  before  that 
time.  There  were  many  members  of  the  regular 
convention  in  sympathy  with  this  movement,  but 
the  number  who  actually  participated  was  not 
great. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

HENRY  WILSON. 

His  Humble  Birth — Apprenticed  to  a  Farmer — Learns  the  Shoemaker's 
Trade  After  Becoming  Twenty-one — Pursues  an  Academical  Course  After 
That — Becomes  a  Stump  Orator — Great  success — Enters  Public  Life — In 
the  Legislature — An  Ardent  Free  Soiler — An  Editor  for  Two  Years — Cho 
sen  United  States  Senator  in  1850 — His  Career  in  the  Senate — Challenged 
by  Bully  Brooks — Service  on  the  Military  Committee — Joins  the  Army— 
His  Labors  for  the  Colored  Race — Why  he  Would  Not  Join  the  Working- 
men's  Party — An  Answer  Worth  Reading — A  Busy  Career. 

Our  sketch  of  Henry  Wilson,  Republican  candi 
date  for  Vice-President,  is  mainly  a  hasty  compila 
tion  from  recent  newspaper  sketches,  of  which  the 
New  York  Times  and  the  Philadelphia  Telegraph 
have  published  the  best  which  have  come  to  hand. 
The  origin  of  Wilson,  like  that  of  Lincoln,  Grant, 
Johnson  and  others  whom  the  whole  nation  has 
seen  fit  to  elevate  to  the  highest  places  with 
in  its  gift,  was  extremely  humble  ;  more  so,  indeed, 
than  any  of  the  others.  His  manner  of  struggling 
upward  against  adversity  was  very  like  that  of 
Horace  Greeley;  but  as  the  temperaments  and 
minds  of  the  two  men  are  essentially  different,  the 
parallel  does  not  extend  to  their  respective  careers 
after  attaining  manhood. 

Henry  Wilson  was  born  at  Farmington,  N.  H., 

(530 


532  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

February  i6th,  1812,  and  is  now,  therefore,  in  his 
sixty-first  year.  On  account  of  the  extreme  pov 
erty  of  his  parents,  he  was  at  ten  years  of  age  appren 
ticed  to  a  farmer  in  the  vicinity  for  eleven  years. 
His  master  was  a  kind  and  generous  man,  who 
sent  the  young  hard-working  boy  to  school  in  the 
intervals  of  agricultural  labor,  and  here  he  soon 
developed  a  great  taste  for  reading.  He  hungered 
after  knowledge,  and  his  evident  desire  to  learn 
induced  a  lawyer  of  Farmington  to  offer  him  the 
free  use  of  his  library,  which  was  fortunately  a  very 
extensive  one.  Here  the  statesman  in  embryo  rev 
eled,  and,  in  after  life  he  has  declared  to  friends 
that  he  believes  he  read  during  those  eleven  years 
a  hundred  volumes  a  year.  When  he  became 
twenty-one  he  had  exhausted  the  library.  We 
continue  the  narrative  in  the  words  of  another : 

LEARNS    A    TRADE. 

"  His  indentures  were  now  completed,  and  if  he  had  chosen  to  become  a 
farmer,  opportunities  of  advancement  were  not  wanting,  for  everybody  liked 
the  shy  awkward  youth,  with  his  broad,  high  forehead,  his  honest  eyes  and 
his  immense  but  somewhat  desultory  stores  of  information.  But  he  had  re 
solved  upon  quitting  Farmington  and  seeing  the  world.  Putting  his  few- 
clothes  and  his  books,  his  only  treasures,  into  a  bundle,  he  slung  it  across  his 
shoulder  and  walked  gayly  off  to  Natick,  in  Massachusetts,  where  he  hired 
himself  to  a  shoe-maker,  with  the  resolution  of  working  at  this  trade  until  he 
had  accumulated  a  fund  sufficient  to  maintain  him  in  some  good  academy.  It 
took  three  years  to  do  this,  when  he  returned  to  New  Hampshire  and  studied 
for  a  time  in  the  academies  at  Stafford,  Wolfsborough  and  Concord.  Most 
unfortunately,  the  man  to  whom  he  had  confided  his  little  heap  of  savings 
became  insolvent,  so  Henry  Wilson  was  obliged  to  return  to  the  shoemaker's 
bench  at  Natick. 

"Mr.  Wilson  himself  gives,  in  one  of  his  speeches,  the  following  account  of 
his  rugged  experience  as  a  boy  and  young  man  : 

'"I  left  my  home  at  ten  years  of  age  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  eleven 
years,  receiving  a  month's  schooling  each  year,  and  at  the  end  of  eleven  years 


HENRY    WILSON.  533 

of  hard  work,  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  six  sheep,  which  brought  me  eighty-four 
dollars.  Eighty-four  dollars  for  eleven  years  of  hard  toil !  I  never  spent  the 
amount  of  one  dollar  in  money,  counting  every  penny,  from  the  time  I  was 
born  until  I  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  I  know  what  it  is  to  travel  weary 
miles  and  ask  my  fellow-men  to  give  me  leave  to  toil.  I  remember  that  in 
October,  1833, 1  walked  into  your  village  from  my  native  town,  went  through 
your  mills,  seeking  employment.  If  anybody  had  offered  me  nine  dollars  a 
month,  I  should  have  accepted  it  gladly.  I  went  to  Salmon  Falls,  I  went  to 
Dover,  I  went  to  New  Market,  and  tried  to  get  work,  without  success,  and  I 
returned  home  footsore  and  weary,  but  not  discouraged.  I  put  my  pack  on 
my  back  and  walked  to  where  I  now  live,  in  Massachusetts,  and  learned  a 
mechanic's  trade.' 

BECOMES    A    STUMP    ORATOR. 

"He  was  now  twenty-six,  and  noted  everywhere  in  the  neighborhood  as  a 
modest,  well-educated  young  man,  with  a  great  turn  for  debating.  He  de 
lighted  in  discussion,  and  was  so  redoubtable  an  opponent  that  no  one  in  the 
academies  or  among  his  comrades  at  Natick  cared  to  enter  into  an  argument 
with  one  who  was  so  logical,  so  keenly  alive  to  the  weak  points  of  others, 
and  who  had,  moreover,  so  powerful  a  flow  of  language.  Everybody 
predicted  that  at  the  next  election  the  people  would  hear  of  Henry  Wilson. 
They  did.  In  1840  General  Harrison  was  the  Whig  candidate,  and  young 
Wilson's  feelings  were  warmly  enlisted  on  his  side.  He  spoke  with  great  ef 
fect  at  Natick  in  his  favor,  and  afterward  in  other  towns  of  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire.  He  was  at  once  recognized  as  a  genuine  orator,  and 
his  services  were  engaged  by  the  Whig  party,  for  whom  he  delivered  no  less 
than  sixty  speeches  during  that  campaign. 

AND    AN    EDITOR. 

In  the  next  five  years  he  was  himself  elected  three  times  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  twice  State  Senator.  Here  he  quickly 
distinguished  himself  as  a  bitter  hater  of  slavery,  and,  when  a  State  Senator 
from  Middlesex  county,  was  selected  to  carry  the  great  protest  of  Massachu 
setts  against  the  evils  of  slavery  and  against  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
Washington.  The  poet  Whittier  was  connected  with  him  in  this  character 
istic  embassy.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  National  Convention  of  1848, 
being  now  thirty-six,  and  he  took  the  opportunity  of  proposing  and  present 
ing  to  the  Convention  a  series  of  anti-slavery  resolutions  which  were  declared 
by  many  authorities  to  be  the  most  comprehensive  and  the  most  unsparing 
that  the  brain  of  man  could  devise.  The  Convention,  however,  was  too  timid 
to  accept  them,  and  Henry  Wilson,  on  their  rejection,  at  once  withdrew  and 
devoted  himself  to  assisting  in  the  formation  of  the  Free  Soil  Party.  Be 
lieving  that  the  public  mind  wanted  educating  on  the  subject,  he  purchased  the 
Boston  Republican  and  for  two  years  agitated  the  question  without  fear  or 
flinching. 


534  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  '72. 

In  1849  he  was  chosen  Chairman  of  the  Free  Soil  State  Committee  of 
Massachusetts,  which  post  he  held  for  four  years.  In  1850  he  was  sent  to 
the  State  Senate,  and  unanimously  elected  President.  Two  years  afterward 
he  was  elected  by  acclamation  President  of  the  great  Free  Soil  Convention, 
which  was  held  in  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  when  he  electrified  the  members  by  the 
most  wonderful  displays  of  eloquence.  The  Free-soilers  put  him  up  as  can 
didate  for  Representative  in  Congress,  and  though  defeated,  he  ran  ahead  of 
his  ticket  by  thousands  of  votes.  Next  year  the  same  party  put  him  up  for 
Governor,  but  he  was  again  defeated,  though  still  running  largely  ahead  of 
his  ticket.  Two  years  afterward,  1855,  things  changed,  and  the  Free-soilers 
being  in  the  ascendant,  Henry  Wilson  was  elected  United  States  Senator  in 
the  place  of  Edward  Everett. 

IN   THE    UNITED    STATES    SENATE. 

No  sooner  had  he  taken  his  seat  than  he  made  the  Senate  Chamber  ring 
with  the  most  eloquent  denunciations  of  slavery.  He  made  a  great  speech 
advocating  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  and  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  next  took  an  active  part  in  organiz 
ing  the  Republican  Party  on  the  basis  of  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all.  In 
May,  1856,  Mr.  Sumner,  his  colleague,  was  assailed  in  the  most  dastardly 
manner  by  Preston  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina.  He  rose  to  his  feet  and 
denounced  the  assault  as  "  brutal,  murderous  and  cowardly."  The  South 
Carolina  fire-eater  sent  him  a  challenge,  which  he  disregarded,  on  the  ground 
that  dueling  was  a  remnant  of  barbarism,  branded  by  the  law,  and  that  it  ill 
became  law-makers  to  violate  law  so  grossly.  At  the  same  time  he  intimated 
that  should  any  one  assault  him  as  his  colleague  had  been  assaulted,  it  would 
be  seen  that  he  believed  most  fully  in  the  right  of  self-defense. 

AT    THE    HEAD    OF   THE    MILITARY    COMMITTEE. 

"  In  March,  1861,  Mr.  Wilson  was  assigned  to  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs.  For  four  years  previous  he  had  been  a 
member  of  that  committee,  when  Jefferson  Davis  was  its  chairman,  and, 
though  a  in  minority,  had  profited  by  his  position  in  becoming  thoroughly 
familiar  with  all  the  details  of  the  condition  of  the  arms  and  defenses  of  the 
country,  and  the  state  of  the  army  and  its  officers.  To  it  he  now  brought 
his  indomitable  energy  and  tireless  industry.  Its  duties  were  multiplied  a 
hundred  fold  in  the  four  years  that  followed. 

"The  important  legislation  for  raising,  organizing  and  governing  the  armies 
originated  in  that  committee,  or  was  passed  upon  by  it,  and  eleven  thousand 
nominations,  from  the  second  lieutenant  to  the  lieutenant-general,  were 
referred  to  it.  The  labors  of  Mr.  Wilson  as  chairman  of  the  committee  were 
immense. 

"  Being  in  Washington  when  Fort  Sumter  fell,  he  was  one  among  the  few 
who  advised  that  the  call  should  be  for  three  hundred  thousand  instead  of 
seventy-five  thousand  men.  On  the  day  that  call  was  made,  he  induced  the 


HENRY    WILSON.  535 

Secretary  of  War  to  double  the  number  of  regiments  apportioned  to  Massa 
chusetts. 

"  On  the  second  day  of  the  extra  session  of  Congress,  July  4,  1861,  Mr. 
Wilson  introduce'd  five  bills  and  a  joint  resolution.  The  first  bill  was  a 
measure  authorizing  the  employment  of  five  hundred  thousand  volunteers  for 
three  years,  to  aid  in  enforcing  the  laws  ;  the  second  was  a  measure  increasing 
the  regular  army  by  the  addition  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  ;  the  third  was 
a  measure  providing  for  the  "  better  organization  of  the  military  establish 
ment,"  in  twenty-five  sections  embracing  very  important  provisions.  These 
three  measures  were  referred  to  the  Military  Committee,  promptly  reported 
back  by  Mr.  Wilson,  slightly  amended,  and  enacted  into  laws.  The  joint 
resolution  to  ratify  and  confirm  certain  acts  of  the  President  for  the  suppres 
sion  of  insurrection  and  rebellion  was  reported,  debated  at  great  length,  but 
failed  to  pass,  though  its  most  important  provisions  were,  on  his  motion 
incorporated  with  another  measure. 

"Mr.  Wilson,  at  the  called  session,  introduced  a  bill  in  addition  to  the  "Act 
to  authorize  the  employment  of  volunteers,"  which  authorized  the  President 
to  accept  five  hundred  thousand  more  volunteers,  and  to  appoint  for  the 
command  of  volunteer  forces,  such  number  of  major  and  brigadier-generals 
as  in  his  judgment  might  be  required  ;  and  this  measure  was  passed. 

"He  introduced  bills  "to  authorize  the  President  to  appoint  additional  aids- 
de-camp,"  containing  a  provision  abolishing  flogging  in  the  army  ;  "  to  make 
appropriations ;"  "  to  provide  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  ordnance  and 
ordnance  stores  ;"  and  "  to  increase  the  corps  of  engineers  ;"  all  of  which 
were  enacted.  He  introduced  also  a  bill,  which  was  passed,  "  to  increase  the 
pay  of  privates,"  which  raised  the  pay  of  the  soldiers  from  eleven  to  thirteen 
dollars  per  month,  and  provided  that  all  the  acts  of  the  President  respecting 
the  army  and  navy  should  be  approved,  legalized  and  made  valid. 

"At  the  close  of  the  session  General  Scott  emphatically  declared  that  Senator 
Wilson  had  done  more  work  in  that  short  session  than  all  the  chairmen  of 
the  military  committees  had  done  in  the  last  twenty  years. 

"  After  a  brief  period  of  actual  military  service  (having  raised  a  brigade  of 
troops  in  Massachusetts  in  1861,  and  afterwards  served  on  General  McClel- 
lan's  staff  as  a  volunteer  aid-de-camp)  pressing  duties  in  Congress  forced  him 
to  tender  his  resignation,  and  he  returned  to  his  legislative  duties. 

ORIGINATES    ARMY    LEGISLATION. 

"  During  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  Mr.  Wilson 
originated,  introduced  and  carried  through,  several  measures  of  vital  import 
ance  to  the  army  and  the  interests  of  the  country.  Among  these  measures, 
were  the  bills  '  relating  to  courts-martial ;'  '  to  provide  for  allotment  certifi 
cates  ;'  '  for  the  better  organization  of  the  signal  department  of  the  army  ;' 
'  for  the  appointment  of  sutlers  in  the  volunteer  service,  and  defining  their 
duties  ;'  '  authorizing  the  President  to  assign  the  command  of  troops  in  the 


536  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

same  field  or  department,  to  officers  of  the  same  grade,  without  regard  to 
seniority  ;'  '  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  medical  department  of  the 
army  ;'  '  to  facilitate  the  discharge  of  enlisted  men  for  physical  disability  ;' 
'  to  provide  additional  medical  officers  of  the  volunteer  service  ;'  '  to  encour 
age  enlistments  in  the  regular  army,  and  to  volunteer  forces  ;'  '  for  the  pre 
sentation  of  medals  of  honor  to  enlisted  men  of  the  army  and  volunteer 
forces,  who  have  distinguished,  or  who  may  distinguish  themselves  in  battle 
during  the  present  rebellion  ;'  '  to  define  the  pay  and  emoluments  of  certain 
officers  of  the  army,  and  for  other  purposes,' — a  bill  of  twenty-two  sections 
of  important  provisions  ;  and  '  to  amend  the  act  calling  forth  the  militia  to 
execute  the  laws,  suppress  insurrection  and  repel  invasion.'  This  last  bill 
authorized  for  the  first  time  the  enrolment  in  the  militia,  and  the  drafting  of 
negroes,  and  empowered  the  President  to  accept,  organize,  and  arm  colored 
men  for  military  purposes.  During  the  session,  Mr.  Cameron,  the  Secretary 
of  War,  resigned,  and,  on  leaving  the  department,  he  said,  in  a  letter  to  Sen 
ator  Wilson  : 

"  No  man,  in  my  opinion,  in  the  whole  country,  has  done  more  to  aid  the 
War  Department  in  preparing  the  mighty  army  now  under  arms,  than  your 
self  ;  and,  before  leaving  this  city,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  offer  to  you  my  sin 
cere  thanks,  as  its  late  head.  As  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
Senate,  your  services  were  invaluable." 

"  In  the  last  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  and  the  whole  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth  Congress,  Mr.  Wilson  labored  with  the  same  vigor  and  persistency  to 
organize  and  develop  the  military  resources  of  the  nation,  to  do  justice  to  the 
officers  and  to  care  for  the  soldiers.  Aside  from  the  numerous  bills  which, 
though  originating  with  him,  were  offered  by  others,  and  the  amendments 
which  he  suggested  to  bills  originating  with  other  Senators,  or  with  the 
House  of  Representatives,  the  following  important  measures  were  introduced 
and  advocated  by  him,  and  passed  through  his  efforts  :  '  An  act  to  faciiitate 
the  discharge  of  disabled  soldiers,  and  the  inspection  of  convalescent  camps 
and  hospitals  ;'  '  to  improve  the  organization  of  the  cavalry  forces  ;'  4  to 
authorize  an  increase  in  the  number  of  major  and  brigadier-generals  ;'  '  for 
enrolling  and  calling  out  the  national  forces,  and  for  other  purposes'  (this 
act  contained  thirty-eight  sections,  and  was  one  of  the  most  important  passed 
during  the  session) ;  '  to  amend  an  act  entitled  '  An  act  for  enrolling  and 
calling  out  the  national  forces'  (this  bill  contained  the  provision  that  '  colored 
persons  should,  on  being  mustered  into  the  service,  become  free') ;  '  an  act 
to  establish  a  uniform  system  of  ambulances  in  the  armies  ;'  '  to  increase  the 
pay  of  soldiers  in  the  United  States  army,  and  for  other  purposes'  (this  in 
creased  the  pay  of  a  private  soldier  to  sixteen  dollars  a  month  ;)  '  to  provide 
for  the  examination  of  certain  officers  of  the  army  ;'  '  to  provide  for  the  bet 
ter  organization  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department  ;'  '  an  act  in  addition  to 
the  several  acts  for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  national  forces  ;'  '  to  incor 
porate  a  national  military  and  naval  asylum  for  the  relief  of  totally  disabled 


HENRY    WILSON.  537 

men  of  the  volunteer  forces  ;'  '  to  incorporate  the  National  Freedmen's  Sav 
ing  Bank  ;'  '  to  incorporate  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  ;'  '  to  encour 
age  enlistments,  and  promote  the  efficiency  of  the  military  and  naval  forces, 
to  making  free  the  wives  and  children  of  colored  soldiers  ;'  and  a  joint  reso 
lution  '  to  encourage  the  employment  of  disabled  and  discharged  soldiers.' 
The  important  legislation  securing  to  colored  soldiers  equality  of  pay  from 
the  1st  of  January,  1864,  and  to  officers  in  the  field  an  increase  in  the  com 
mutation  price  of  the  ration,  and  three  months'  extra  pay  to  those  who  should 
continue  in  service  to  the  close  of  the  war,  was  moved  by  Mr.  Wilson  upon 
Appropriation  bills. 

HIS   LABORS    FOR  THE   NEGRO. 

"  But  while  laboring,  with  ever-watchful  care,  for  the  interests  of  the  army 
and  the  support  of  the  government  in  its  gigantic  efforts  to  suppress  the 
Rebellion,  Mr.  Wilson  did  not  lose  sight,  for  a  moment,  of  slavery,  to  the 
ultimate  extinction  of  which  he  had  consecrated  his  life  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  before  slavery  revolted  against  the  authority  of  the  nation.  In 
that  remarkable  series  of  anti-slavery  measures  which  culminated  in  the  anti- 
slavery  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  he  bore  no  undistinguished  part. 
He  introduced  the  bill  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which 
became  a  law  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1862,  and  by  which  more  than  three 
thousand  slaves  were  forever  made  free,  and  slavery  became  forever  impossi 
ble  in  the  nation's  capital.  He  introduced  a  provision,  which  became  a  law 
on  the  2 ist  of  May,  1862,  providing  that  persons  of  color  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  should  be  subject  to  the  same  laws  to  which  white  persons  were 
subject ;  that  they  should  be  tried  for  offenses  against  the  laws  in  the  same 
manner  as  white  persons  are  tried,  and  if  convicted,  be  liable  to  the  same 
penalty,  and  no  other,  as  would  be  inflicted  upon  white  persons  for  the  same 
crime.  On  the  I2th  of  July,  1862,  he  introduced  from  the  Military  Commit 
tee  the  bill,  which  became  a  law  on  the  I7th,  to  amend  the  act  of  1795, 
calling  for  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws.  This  bill  made  negroes  a  part  of 
the  militia,  authorized  the  President  to  receive,  into  the  military  or  naval 
service,  persons  of  African  descent,  and  made  free  such  persons,  their  mothers, 
wives,  and  children,  if  they  owed  service  to  any  persons  who  gave  aid  to  the 
rebellion.  On  the  24th  of  February,  1864,  he  caused  the  enrollment  act  to 
be  so  amended  as  to  make  colored  men,  whether  free  or  slave,  part  of  the 
national  forces  ;  and  the  masters  of  slaves  were  to  receive  the  bounty  when 
they  should  free  their  drafted  slaves.  On  the  committee  of  conference,  Mr. 
Wilson  moved  that  the  slaves  should  be  made  free,  not  by  the  act  of  their 
masters,  but  by  the  authority  of  the  government,  the  moment  they  entered 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  this  motion  prevailing,  the  act  passed 
in  that  form.  General  Palmer  reported  that  in  Kentucky  alone  more  than 
twenty  thousand  slaves  were  made  free  by  it.  He  subsequently  introduced, 
and  in  the  face  of  the  most  persistent  opposition,  carried  through,  a  joint 
resolution  making  the  wives  and  children  of  all  colored  soldiers  forever  free. 


538  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

Six  months  after  the  passage  of  this  bill,  Major-General  Palmer  reported  that 
in  Kentucky  alone,  nearly  seventy-five  thousand  women  and  children  had 
received  their  freedom  through  it. 

"  Senator  Wilson  also  moved  and  carried  an  amendment  to  the  Army 
Appropriation  bill  of  June  15,  1864,  providing  that  all  persons  of  color  who 
had  been  or  who  might  be  mustered  into  the  military  service  should  receive 
the  same  uniform,  clothing,  arms,  equipments,  camp  equipage,  rations,  medical 
attendance  and  pay,  as  other  soldiers,  from  the  ist  day  of  January,  1864. 

"  His  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Massachusetts  colored  regiments  are  well 
known,  and  it  was  due  to  his  persistency,  that  they  received  a  part  of  what 
was  their  just  due.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  was  originally  reported  by 
him,  and  in  all  the  subsequent  legislation  on  that  subject,  he  was  active  and 
decided  in  favor  of  its  organization  and  maintenance.  He  defended  with 
great  ability  and  secured  the  adoption  of  negro  suffrage  as  a  part  of  the 
Congressional  plan  of  reconstruction,  and  in  both  the  thirty-ninth  and 
fortieth  Congresses,  he  has  maintained  fully  his  old  reputation  as  the  champion 
of  the  oppressed  and  downtrodden. 

"  Mr.  Wilson  was  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency  in  the 
political  campaign  of  1868,  and  though,  eventually,  Mr.  Colfax  received  the 
nomination,  the  vote  for  Mr.  Wilson  was  61  on  the  fifth  ballot,  on  which  Mr. 
Colfax  was  nominated. 

A   THIRD   TIME    ELECTED    SENATOR. 

"In  1871  Mr.  Wilson  was  again  re-elected  to  the  Senate,  without  any 
organized  opposition,  for  the  full  term  of  six  years  ending  March  4,  1877, 
and  was  again  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  a 
position  which  he  still  retains.  Although  his  colleague  in  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Sumner,  joined  in  the  crusade  against  the  administration  of  President  Grant, 
he  held  fast  to  the  party  and  its  regular  organization,  and,  in  a  letter 
addressed,  in  November,  1871,  to  the  Committee  on  the  Organization  of  the 
Labor  Reform  movement,  in  Washington,  announced  his  continued  adherence 
to  the  party  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  I  cannot,  with  my  '  views  of  propriety,  join  in  this  movement.'  I  am  a 
Republican  by  conviction  as  well  as  by  association.  Born  in  extreme  poverty, 
bound  as  an  apprentice  at  an  early  age,  I  learned  by  bitter  trials  and  hard 
ships  the  poor  are  doomed  to  suffer  from  boyhood.  Every  pulsation  of  my 
heart  has  been  in  sympathy  with  the  sons  and  daughters  of  toil  of  all  races. 
My  early  experiences  made  me  abhor  wrong  and  oppression,  so  I  early  became 
any  enemy  of  slavery  and  of  the  rule  of  the  slave-masters.  I  saw  and  felt 
the  degrading  influences  of  a  system  that  held  working-men  in  enforced  toil, 
that  allowed  capital  to  own  labor.  For  more  than  twenty  years  I  strove  to 
make  a  political  power  to  emancipate  the  slave  and  end  the  iron  rule  of  the 
master. 

"  The  Republican  party  came  into  being  to  break  the  power  of  the  owners 


HENRY    WILSON.  539 

of  labor  and  to  deliver  the  laborer,  to  lift  from  the  brows  of  workingmen  the 
dishonor  of  enforced  toil,  and  to  make  our  country  a  glorious  land  where 
labor  can  look  up  and  be  proud  amidst  its  toil.  I  did  what  I  could  to  bring 
it  as  a  party  into  being.  It  has  done  grand  work  for  the  country  and  for  the 
toiling  men  of  the  country,  and  of  the  world,  too.  History  records  no 
nobler  achievements.  Its  work  is  not  yet  secure,  nor  is  it  completed.  I  can 
do  nothing  to  endanger  that  work  ;  nor  can  I  do  anything  to  arrest  the 
completion  of  the  work  imposed  upon  the  Republican  party  by  the  needs  of 
the  country  and  the  logic  of  its  own  principles,  that  require  it  to  be  as  true 
to  the  interests  of  white  workingmen  as  it  has  been  to  the  interests  of  black 
workingmen.  I  am  constrained  by  an  imperitive  sense  of  duty  to  stand  by 
the  Republican  party  till  its  great  work  is  secured  and  finished.  But  what 
ever  I  can  do  shall  ever  be  done  to  aid  in  improving,  elevating  and  rewarding 
labor." 

Mr.  Wilson  is  now  writing,  and  has  published 
one  volume  of  an  elaborate  "  History  of  the  Slave 
Power  in  America,"  which  promises  to  be  a  monu 
mental  work  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

BENJAMIN  GRATZ  BROWN. 

Of  Aristocratic  Family — Graduates  at  Yale — Studies  Law — Moves  to  St. 
Louis — Cultivates  the  Germans — Goes  to  the  Legislature — Starts  the 
"  Democrat  " — Elected  to  the  United  States  Senate — Governor  of  Missou 
ri — His  Characteristic  Traits — A  Habitual  Bolter  and  Extremist — How 
he  Doubled  on  his  Track  as  to  Amnesty — Brown  and  the  Schoolma'ams — 
Some  of  his  Flights  Accounted  for. 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  Vice-President  is 
Benjamin  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri.  Mr.  Brown 
is  not,  as  Greeley  called  him,  not  long  since,  "  a 
third-rate  lawyer."  He  is  a  man  of  ability,  and  his 
career  has  been  a  brilliant  one, — erratic,  perhaps, 
but  still  brilliant.  Some  points  of  it  follow. 

Unlike  the  three  other  gentlemen  whose  names 
appear  upon  the  national  ticket  of  1872  as  candi 
dates  for  the  Presidency  or  Vice-Presidency,  Mr. 
Brown  is  of  what  we  may  call  aristocratic  birth  ; 
and  this  fact  in  Kentucky  was  unquestionably  of 
great  service  to  him.  His  father  was  the  late 
Judge  Mason  Brown,  of  Frankfort,  a  lawyer  and 
jurist  of  note,  and  the  son  of  John  Brown,  the  first 
person  ever  chosen  Senator  from  Kentucky.  He 
is  a  kinsman  of  the  Prestons,  Breckenridges,  Blairs. 
McDowels,  Bentons  and  other  well-known  families, 
whose  members  have  been  prominent  in  national 

(540) 


BENJAMIN    GRATZ    BROWN.  54! 

and  State  affairs  since  the  formation    of  the  Gov 
ernment. 

EARLY    HISTORY. 

Gratz  was  born  on  the  28th  of  May,  1826,  at 
Lexington  ;  graduated  at  the  Transylvania  "Uni 
versity,"  and  at  Yale  College,  taking  his  bachelors 
degree  at  the  latter  institution  when  he  was  only 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  next  studied  law  at 
Louisville,  whence  he  moved  to  St.  Louis  in  1850 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  this  profession.  At 
law  he  was  successful,  but  preferred  politics.  He 
was  chosen  to  the  State  Legislature  in  1852,  and 
served  there  for  several  terms.  In  St.  Louis  were 
many  Germans,  and  Brown  was  sagacious  enough 
to  see  in  them  an  element  of  power  for  any  politi 
cian  who  could  obtain  recognition  as  their  repre 
sentative.  They  were  mostly  radical — so  was  he. 
They  were  for  the  abolition  of  slavery — so  he  be 
came,  although  he  had  been  brought  up  by  slave 
nurses.  He  has  the  distinction  of  making  the  first 
speech  for  emancipation  in  the  Legislature  of  a 
slave  State,  and  of  founding  the  first  anti-slavery 
journal  in  a  slave  State.  Thus  we  have  three  edi 
tors  in  the  Presidential  field — Greeley,  Wilson, 
Brown. 

BECOMES    A    SENATOR. 

The  journal  referred  to  was  the  Missouri  Demo 
crat,  which  Brownestablished  at  St.  Louis,  in  1854, 
in  conjunction  with  Frank  Blair  and  others,  Brown 
being  the  chief  editorial  writer.  His  articles  were 


542  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    72. 

fiery  and  powerful,  and  he  not  only  succeeded  in  ad 
vancing  the  cause  of  the  Ben  ton  democracy,  but  in 
establishing  his  journal  on  a  firm,  broad  basis.  In 
1862,  Mr.  Brown  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  for  the  incomplete  term  extending  from  1863 
to  1867.  (He  was  afterwards  instrumental  in  ele 
vating  Carl  Schurz  and  Frank  Blair  to  seats  in  the 
same  body.)  Retiring  from  public  office  at  the  ex 
piration  of  this  term,  he  remained  in  comparative 
seclusion  until  1870,  when  he  appeared  before  the 
State  Republican  Convention  of  Missouri  as  a  can 
didate  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination.  His  pet 
issue  then  was  complete  amnesty  to  Rebel  citizens 
of  the  State,  who  were  disfranchised  by  the  then 
existing  State  constitution — an  instrument  which,  as 
will  afterwards  appear,  Brown  had  helped  to  get 
adopted.  Failing  to  secure  the  nomination,  he, 
with  Schurz  and  others,  organized  a  bolt  and  a  co 
alition  with  the  Democracy.  This  proved  immense 
ly  successful,  and  Brown  became  Governor, — an 
office  which  he  still  holds. 

CHARACTERISTIC    TRAITS. 

By  temperament  and  talent,  Brown  is  a  sensa 
tionalist.  Upon  whatever  course  he  may  resolve, 
he  goes  at  once  to  the  extreme  of  it,  that  he  may 
thereby  startle  the  community  and  attract  its  no 
tice.  He  is  not  so  much  a  pioneer  of  the  army  of 
progress,  keeping  in  front  a  clearing  away  the  ob 
stacles,  as  he  is  a  volunteer  aid-de-camp  or  a  priv 
ileged  straggler,  galloping  about,  finding  conspicu- 


BENJAMIN    GRATZ    BROWN.  543 

ous  and  commanding  heights,  ascending  them  and 
shouting  to  the  marching  masses,  "See  here  !  Here 
I  am— Brown !  You  daren't  come  up  here,  boys  !  " 
Brown  is  a  fire-eater,  and  the  direction  of  his  ex 
tremism  depends  upon  that  of  the  current  of 
thought  upon  the  community  upon  which  he  pro 
poses  to  operate.  He  is  now,  and  has  been  since 
the  agitation  in  Missouri,  in  1870,  fierce  for  com 
plete  amnesty.  It  would  hardly  be  thought  by 
Brown's  present  partisans,  except  by  those  who 
know  the  ultraism  of  the  man's  character,  that  he 
would  have  uttered  such  words  as  these  in  a  public 
speech  : 

"  It  is  not  within  the  thought  of  this  nation  and  this  people  that  they  who 
have  engaged  in  this  resistance  and  rebellion,  whether  openly  in  arms  or 
stealthily  by  device  and  falsehood,  shall  EVER  in  the  future  have  the  means 
of  controlling  our  institutions  or  shaping  our  policies.  FRANCHISE  is  NOT 

FOR  SUCH — CANNOT  BE  FOR  SUCH — WILL  NOT  BE  FOR  SUCH.  Power  and  po- 
sition  belong  of  right  to  the  loyal,  for  self-preservation  knows  no  higher  law. 
In  the  revolted  states  this  is  peculiarly  the  case — but  the  limit  will  not  be 
territorial ;  it  will  go  wherever  rebellion  has  gone  or  shall  go,  or  shall  en 
kindle  a  kindred  sympathy  to  manifest  itself.  The  valor  of  the  nation  has 
gone  forth  to  peril  life — all  of  life — to  carry  forward  that  progress  which 
promises  a  nationally  of  freedom  to  our  union  ;  and  think  ye  that  it  is  within 
the  endurances  of  human  nature  that  they  who  remain  at  home  to  thwart 
such  high  purposes  will  be  permitted  to  repose  on  beds  of  peace  and  fructify 
in  the  abuse  of  power  and  influence  ?  God's  providence  has  not  so  ordered 
it  heretofore  in  this  world,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  otherwise  than 
that,  as  it  has  been  in  other  annals  and  like  progressions  from  the  people,  so 
will  it  be  in  ours  to  the  fullest  measure  #/"  RETALIATION.  Escape  will  be 
the  exception,  visitation  the  rule,  for  the  evidences  of  treason,  rebellion,  sym 
pathy,  are  too  plain  to  escape  detection." 

ETERNAL     PROSCRIPTION     STILL    HIS    POLICY    IN     1865* 

And  yet  he  said  precisely  this — and  his  whole 
speech  on  the  subject  was  of  the  same  purport— 
at   St.   Louis  on  the  2;th  of  August,  1863.      But 


544  THE    STRUGGLE   OF    '72. 

this,  it  may  be  said,  was  during  the  prevalence  of 
the  war,  and  under  the  stimulus  of  Mr.  Brown's 
loyal  feeling,  and  peace  would  bring  a  revulsion  of 
his  sentiments.  But  let  those  who  think  thus  read 
also  Brown's  letter  to  J.  R.  Winchell,  Esq.,  of  Han 
nibal,  written  in  1865,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
republished  in  Mr.  Winchell's  paper,  the  Hannibal 
Courier  of  May  8,  1872.  The  following  is  an  ex 
tract.  He  is  arguing  with  his  correspondent  in 
favor  of  the  new  Constitution,  and  adduces  as  its 
first  point  the  precise  provision  which  was  so  odious 
to  him  a  little  while  after — at  least  by  opposing 
which  he  then  got  into  office.  He  says : 

"Upon  reading  it,  however,  I  find  two  provisions  that  go  very  far  to  re 
deem  it,  and  that  certainly  make  it  preferable  to  the  old.  First,  the  provis 
ion  authorizing  the  Legislature  to  amend,  by  a  majority  vote,  approved  by 
the  people.  Second,  the  registration  of  voters,  and  the  disfranchisement  of 
Rebels,  on  proofs  submitted  to  the  registers.  My  remark  about  eternizing 
our  hostilities  was  an  epitome  of  the  idea  that  oaths  had  failed  to  exclude 
Rebels,  and  only  keep  alive  their  identity  and  irritation  in  our  midst,  and  if 
the  Constitution  intend  hereafter  to  rely  on  oaths  alone,  it  would  be  a  failure. 
/  need  scarcely  say  that  I  am  one  of  those  who  have  from  the  beginning  be- 
cieved  that  the  loyal  and  the  disloyal  can  NE  VER  live  in  Missouri  together, 
and  the  latter  must  be  FORCED  to  depart,  and  I  believe  that  registration  is 
the  only  mode  that  will  accomplish  it.  *  *  *  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to 
return  or  destroy  my  note  to  you  some  days  since,  as  it  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  those  who  would  not  know  the  qualifications  that  attend  it,  and 
might  use  it  dangerously." 

And  but  for  Mr.  Brown's  care  to  cover  his  tracks 
by  having  the  earlier  letter  destroyed,  it  is  quite 
likely  that  we  might  find  something  therein  still 
more  highly  flavored  with  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
hate  which  he  was  then  inculcating.  There  is  no 
law  against  a  man's  changing  his  opinions  ;  but  the 
rule  of  common  sense  dictates,  where  a  man's  opin- 


BENJAMIN    GRATZ    BROWN.  545 

ion  undergoes  such  frequent  and  such  violent 
changes  as  those  of  Governor  Brown,  noted  in  this 
case,  the  value  of  those  opinions  decrease  with 
each  change. 

BROWN    ON    EDUCATION. 

We  have  said  that  Brown  is  a  sensationalist. 
This  quality  of  his  mind  was  illustrated  in  the 
summer  of  1871  by  a  remarkable  address  which  he 
made  before  the  National  Convention  of  School- 
Teachers,  which  met  at  St.  Louis.  Wishing  to 
advocate  to  them  a  greater  proportion  of  moral 
culture  in  their  courses  of  instruction,  he  overshot 
his  mark  entirely,  and  gave  them  a  discourse  which 
must  have  been  revolting  to  the  sentiments  of  his 
hearers,  denouncing  the  whole  system  of  American 
education,  and  declaring  that  the  public  schools  of 
the  country  were  the  firebrands  of  society,  and 
much  more  conducive  to  immorality  than  absolute 
ignorance ;  his  theory  being  that  education  makes 
a  youth  ambitious — and  that  ambition  makes  him 
unprincipled!  He  seemed  to  forget  that  children 
have  any  other  means  of  moral  instruction  except 
the  public  school,  and  slashed  away,  thick  and 
heavy,  in  behalf  of  some  sort  of  a  moral-precept 
machine  whereby  the  evils  of  which  he  complained 
might  be  remedied,  and  the  teachers  whom  he 
addressed  deprived  of  their  poisonous  fangs.  This 
speech  was  applauded  by  the  Chicago  Tribune. 

WHY    SOME    THINGS    ARE    THUS. 

It  is  generally  understood  among  those  familiar 


546  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 

with  the  habits  of  Governor  Brown,  that  the  extra 
ordinary  theories  and  sentiments  which  he  is  apt 
to  advance  in  public  ways  are  not  so  much  the  re 
sult  of  the  consumption  of  midnight  oil,  as  of  some 
other  liquid,  more  volatile  in  its  properties.  St- 
Louis  is  a  convivial  city,  and  politics,  as  run  by 
Brown,  is  a  demoralizing  business  to  the  habits  of 
its  votaries.  The  result  upon  a  man  of  sanguine 
temperament  can  be  easily  imagined.  Some  of  Mr. 
Brown's  most  brilliant  and  startling  oratory  has 
been  delivered  on  banquet  occasions,  at  an  hour 
when  reporting  is  impracticable,  hence  they  have 
been  lost  to  the  world.  It  is  related  that  Frank 
Blair,  whose  habits  are  also  convivial,  and  who  is 
not  himself  noted  for  his  continence  of  language, 
has  been  seen  to  pluck  the  Governor  by  the  coat, 
in  the  midst  of  the  latter's  most  extravagant  flights 
of  oratory,  when  the  table  was  in  a  roar,  and  exclaim 

spiritedly,     "  Good,  Governor !     Good,  by -! 

Go  ahead,  Governor !    make  a fool  of 

yourself.  That  will  read  well  in  the  morning. 
(Hie)  hurrah!" 

It  must  in  candor  be  admitted  by  Governor 
Brown's  enemies  that  he  reforms  his  habits  fre 
quently,  and  is  every  few  months  as  rabid  a  teeto 
taler  and  Maine  law  man  as  he  was  the  opposite  a 
month  before,  and  it  is  more  than  likely  that,  at 
least  until  the  present  campaign  is  over,  he  will  be 
as  good  a  temperance  man  as  his  companion  upon 
the  Democratic  ticket. 

In  person,  Governor   Brown  is  of  the  medium 


BENJAMIN    GRATZ    BROWN.  547 

hight,  very  slender  of  figure  and  immediately  no 
ticeable  for  his  wealth  of  red  hair  and  beard.  The 
color  is  very  pronounced,  and  hence  our  engraving* 
in  plain  black  and  white,  cannot  adequately  portray 
his  most  distinguishing  feature.  In  short,  he  is, 
like  his  companion  upon  the  Democratic  ticket, 
exactly  the  man  whom  an  observer  would  not  select 
for  a  place  requiring,  as  the  Presidency  or  the  Vice 
Presidency  does,  a  large  degree  of  dignity,  reserved 
force,  calmness  of  manner,  consistency  of  purpose 
and  equability  of  temper.  None  of  these  can  justly 
be  attributed  to  B.  Gratz  Brown. 


APPENDIX. 


DOCUMENTS,    STATISTICS,    CAMPAIGN    NOTES. 


Greeley's  Letter  of  Acceptance — Henry  Wilson's  Ditto — Scraps  From  Greeley's  Paper — 
A  Secessionist  through  1860,  '61,  '62 — Converted  to  Republicanism — Eulogizes  Grant's 
Administration  Repeatedly — What  the  Tribune  Said  for  Grant  in  1870  and  1871 — Sumner's 
Falsehood  Concerning  Stanton  Exposed — "Bayonet  Legislation" — Of  What  it  Consists 
— The  New  Tax  Law — Burdens  Lifted  from  the  People — Interesting  National  Debt 
Statement — Election  Statistics — National  and  State  Governments — Presidential  Tickets 
in  the  Field — Expose  of  Greeley's  Intriguing  for  the  Democratic  Nomination  in  1871. 

HORACE   GREELEY'S  LETTER  OF  ACCEPTANCE: 

NEW   YORK,   May  20,  1872. 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  chosen  not  to  acknowledge  your  letter  of  the  3d  inst.  until  I 
could  learn  how  the  work  of  your  Convention  was  received  in  all  parts  of  our  great 
country,  and  judge  whether  that  work  was  approved  and  ratified  by  the  mass  of  our  fellow 
citizens.  Their  response  has  from  day  to  day  reached  me  through  telegrams,  letters,  and 
the  comments  of  journalists  independent  of  official  patronage  and  indifferent  to  the  smiles 
or  frowns  of  power.  The  number  and  character  of  these  unconstrained,  unpurchased, 
unsolicited  utterances  satisfy  me  that  the  movement  which  found  expression  at  Cincinnati 
has  received  the  stamp  of  public  approval,  and  been  hailed  by  a  majority  of  our  country  men 
as  the  harbinger  of  a  better  day  for  the  Republic. 

I  do  not  misinterpret  this  approval  as  especially  complimentary  to  myself,  nor  even  to 
the  chivalrous  and  justly  esteemed  gentleman  with  whose  name  I  thank  your  Convention 
for  associating  mine.  I  receive  and  welcome  it  as  a  spontaneous  and  deserved  tribute  to 
that  admirable  Platform  of  principles,  wherein  your  Convention  so  tersely,  so  lucidly,  so 
forcibly,  set  forth  the  convictions  which  impelled  and  the  purposes  which  guided  its  course 
— a  Platform  which,  casting  behind  it  the  wreck  and  rubbish  of  worn-out  contentions  and 
by-gone  feuds,  embodies  in  fit  and  few  words  the  needs  and  aspirations  of  To-Day. 
Though  thousands  stand  ready  to  condemn  your  every  act,  hardly  a  syllable  of  criticism 
or  cavil  has  been  aimed  at  your  Platform,  of  which  the  substance  may  be  fairly  epitomized 
as  follows: 

1.  All  the  political  rights  and  franchises  which  have  been  acquired  through  our  late 
bloody    convulsion    must   and   shall    be    guaranteed,    maintained,     enjoyed,    respected, 
evermore. 

2.  All  the  political  rights  and  franchises  which  have  been  lost  through  that  convulsion 
should  and  must  be  promptly  restored  and  re-established,  so  that  there  shall  be  henceforth 
no  proscribed  class  and  no  disfranchised  caste  within  the  limits  of  our  Union,  whose  long 
estranged  people  shall  re-unite  and  fraternize  upon  the  broad   basis  of  Universal  Amnesty 
with  Impatial  Suffrage. 

3.  That,  subject  to  our  solemn  constitutional  obligation  to  maintain  the  equal  rights  of 
all  citizens,  pur  policy  should  aim  at  local  self-government,  and  not  at  centralization;  that  the 
civil  authority  should  be  supreme  over  the  military  ;  that  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  should 
be  jealously  upheld  as   the   safeguard   of  personal   freedom  ;    that  the   individual   citizen 
should  enjoy  the  largest  liberty   consistent  with  public  order  ;  and   that  there  shall  be  no 
Federal  subversion  of  the  internal  polity  of  the  several  States  and  municipalities,  but  that 
each  shall  be  left  free  to  enforce  the  rights  and  promote  the  well-being  of  its  inhabitants 
by  such  means  as  the  judgment  of  its  own  people  shall  prescribe. 

4.  There  shall  be  a  real  and  not  merely  a  simulated  reform  in  the  Civil  Service  of  the 
Republic  ;  to  which  end  it  is  indispensable  that  the  chief  dispenser  of  its  vast  official  patron 
age  shall  be  shielded  from  the  main  temptation  to  use  his  power  selfishly,  by  a  rule  inexor 
ably  forbidding  and  precluding  his  re-election. 

5.  That  the  raising  of  Revenue,  whether  by  Tariff  or  otherwise,  shall   be  recognized 
and  treate  d  as  the  People's  immediate  business,  to  be  shaped  and  directed  by  them  through 
their  Representatives  in  Congress,  whose  action  thereon  the  President  must  neither  over- 


(549) 


550 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF 


rule  by  his  veto,  attempt  to  dictate,  nor  presume  to  punish,  by    bestowing  office   only  on 
those  who  agree  with  him  or  withdrawing  it  from  those  who  do  not. 

6.  That  the  Public  Lands  must  be  sacredly  reserved  for  occupation  and  acquisition  by- 
cultivators,  and  not  recklessly  squandered  on   the  projectors  of  Railroads  for  which   our 
people  have  no  present  need,  and  the  premature  construction  of  which  is  annually  plunging 
us  into  deeper  and  deeper  abysses  of  foreign  indebtedness. 

7.  That  the  achievement  of  these  grand  purposes  of  universal  beneficence   is  expected 
and  sought  at  the  hands  of  all  who  approve  them,  irrespective  of  past  affiliations. 

8.  That  the  public  faith  must   at  all  hazards  be  maintained,   and  the  National  credit 
preserved. 

9.  That  the  patriotic  devotedness  and  inestimable  services  of  our   fellow-citizens  who, 
as  soldiers  or  sailors,  upheld  the  flag  and  maintained  the  unity  of  the  Republic   shall  ever 
be  gratefully  remembered  and  honorably  requited. 

These  propositions,  so  ably  and  forcibly  presented  in  the  Platform  of  your  Convention, 
have  already  fixed  the  attention  and  commanded  the  assent  of  a  large  majority  of  our 
countryman,  who  joyfully  adopt  them,  as  I  do,  as  the  basis  of  a  true,  beneficient  National 
Reconstruction — of  a  New  Departure  from  jealousies,  strifes,  and  hates,  which  have  no 
longer  adequate  motive  or  even  plausible  pretext,  into  an  atmosphere  of  Peace,  Fraternity, 
and  Mutual  Good  Will.  In  vain  do  the  drill-sergeants  of  decaying  organizations  flourish 
menacingly  their  truncheons  and  angrily  insist  that  the  files  shall  be  closed  and  straightened; 
in  vain  do  the  whippers-in  of  parties  once  vital  because  rooted  in  the  vital  needs  of  the 
hour  protest  against  straying  and  bolting,  denounce  men  nowise  their  inferiors  as  traitors 
and  renegades,  and  threaten  them  with  infamy  and  ruin.  I  am  confident  that  the  Ameri 
can  People  have  already  made  your  cause  their  own,  fully  resolved  that  their  brave  hearts 
and  strong  arms  shall  bear  it  on  to  triumph.  In  this  faith,  and  with  the  distinct  under 
standing  that,  if  elected,  I  shall  be  the  President  not  of  a  party,  but  of  the  whole  People,  1 
accept  your  nomination,  in  the  confident  trust  that  the  masses  of  our  countrymen,  North 
and  South,  are  eager  to  clasp  hands  across  the  bloody  chasm  which  has  too  long  divided 
them,  forgetting  that  they  have  been  enemies  in  the  joyful  consciousness  that  they  are  and 
must  henceforth  remain  brethren 

Yours,  gratefully, 

HORACE  GREELEY. 
To  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  President;  Hon.  George   W.Julian,  Vice-President;  and  Messrs. 

William  E.  McLean,  John  G.  Davidson,  J.   H.  Rhodes,  Secretaries  of  the   National 

Convention  of  the  Liberal  Republicans  of  the  United  States. 

HENRY  WILSON'S  LETTER  OF  ACCEPTANCE. 

WASHINGTON,  June  14,  1872. 

Hon.  Thomas  Settle  and  others,  President  and  Vice-President   National  Republican 

Convention,  held  at  Philadelphia : 

GENTLEMEN:  Your  note  of  the  loth  inst.,  conveying  to  me  the  action  of  the  Conven 
tion  in  placing  my  name  in  nomination  for  the  office  of  Vice-President,  is  before  me.  I 
need  not  give  you  assurance  of  my  grateful  appreciation  of  the  high  honor  conferred  upon 
me  by  this  action  of  the  fifth  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party.  Sixteen  years 
ago,  in  the  same  city,  was  held  the  first  meeting  of  men  who,  amid  the  darkness  and  doubts 
of  that  hour  of  slaveholding  ascendancy  and  aggression,  had  assembled  in  National  Conven 
tion  to  confer  with  each  other  on  the  exigencies  to  which  that  fearful  domination  had 
brought  their  country.  After  a  full  conference,  the  highest  point  of  resolve  they  could 
reach,  the  most  they  dared  to  recommend,  was  an  avowed  purpose  to  prohibit  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  the  Territories. 

Last  week  the  same  party  met,  by  its  representatives  from  thirty-seven  States  and  ten 
Territories,  at  the  same  great  centre  of  wealth,  intelligence,  and  power,  to  review  the  past, 
take  note  of  the  present,  and  indicate  its  line  of  action  for  the  future.  As  typical  facts  and 
headlands  of  the  nation's  recent  history,  there  sat  on  its  platform,  taking  a  prominent  and 
honorable  part  in  its  proceedings,  admitted  on  terms  of  perfect  equality  to  the  leading 
hotels  of  the  city,  not  only  the  colored  representatives  of  the  race  which  were  ten  years 
before  in  abject  slavery,  but  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent  of  the  once  despised  Abo 
litionists,  to  whom  was  accorded,  as  to  no  other,  the  warmest  demonstrations  of  popular 
regard  and  esteem,  an  ovation,  not  to  him  alone,  but  the  cause  he  had  so  ably,  and  for  so 
many  years  represented,  and  to  men  and  women  living  and  dead,  who  had  toiled  through 
long  years  of  obloquy  and  self  sacrifice  for  the  glorious  fruition  of  that  hour.  It  hardly 
needed  the  brilliant  summary  of  its  platform  to  set  forth  its  illustrious  achievements.  The 
very  presence  of  those  men  was  alone  significant  of  the  victories  already  achieved,  the 
progress  already  made,  and  the  great  distance  which  the  nation  had  traveled  between  the 
years  of  1856  and  1872. 

But  grand  as  has  been  its  record,  the  Republican  party  rests  not  on  its  past  alone.  It 
looks  to  the  future,  and  grapples  with  its  problems  of  duty  and  danger.  It  professes,  as 
objects  of  its  immediate  accomplishment,  complete  liberty  and  equality  for  all ;  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  present  amendments  to  the  national  constitution  ;  reform  in  the  civil  service  ; 
the  national  domain  to  be  set  apart  for  homes  to  the  people;  the  adjustment  of  duties  on 
imports  so  as  to  secure  remunerative  wages  to  labor  ;  extention  of  bounties  to  all  soldiers 
and  sailors  who  in  the  line  of  duty  became  disabled  ;  continued  and  careful  encouragement 


APPENDIX.  551 

and  protection  of  voluntary  immigration  and  guarding  with  zealous  care  the  rights  of  all 
Adopted  citizens;  abolition  of  the  franking  privilege,  and  speedy  reduction  of  the  rates  of 
postage  ;  reduction  of  the  national  debt  and  rates  of  interest  and  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ment;  encouragement  of  American  commerce  and  of  ship-building  ;  suppression  of  violence 
and  protection  of  the  ballot-box.  It  also  placed  on  record  the  opinions  and  purposes  of  the 
party  i.i  favor  of  amnesty,  against  all  forms  of  repudiation,  and  indorsed  the  humane  and 
peaceful  policy  of  the  administration  in  regard  to  the  Indians. 

But  while  clearly  defining  and  distinctly  announcing  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party  on  these  questions  of  practical  legislation  and  administration,  the  Convention  did  not 
ignore  the  great  social  problems  which  are  pressing  their  claims  for  solution,  and  which  de 
mand  the  most  careful  study  and  wise  consideration. 

Foremost  stands  the  labor  question. 

Concerning  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor,  the  Republican  party  accepts  the  duty  of 
so  shaping  legislation  as  to  secure  full  protection  and  the  amplest  field  for  capital  and  for 
labor,  the  creation  of  capital,  the  largest  opportunities  and  just  share  of  the  mutual  profits 
of  these  two  great  servants  of  civilization. 

To  woman,  too,  and  her  new  demands,  it  extends  the  hand  of  grateful  recognition,  and 
proffers  its  most  respectful  inquiry.  It  recognizes  her  noble  devotion  to  the  country  and 
freedom  ;  welcomes  her  admission  to  wider  fields  of  usefulness,  and  commends  her  demands 
for  additional  rights  to  the  calm  and  careful  consideration  of  the  nation. 

To  guard  well  what  has  already  has  been  secured,  to  work  out  faithfully  and  wisely 
what  is  now  in  hand,  and  to  consider  the  questions  which  are  looming  up  to  view  but  a 
little  way  before  us,  the  Republican  party  is  to-day  what  it  was  in  the  gloomy  days  of 
slavery,  rebellion,  and  reconstruction — a  national  necessity.  It  appeals,  therefore,  for  sup 
port  to  the  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  ;  to  the  just  and  humane  ;  to  all  who  would  dig 
nify  labor ;  to  all  who  would  educate,  elevate,  and  lighten  the  burdens  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  toil.  With  its  great  record,  the  work  still  to  be  done,  and  under  the  great 
soldier  whose  historic  renown,  and  whose  successful  administration  for  the  last  three 
years  begot  such  popular  confidence,  the  Republican  party  may  confidently,  in  the 
language  of  the  Convention  you  represent  "  start  on  a  new  march  to  victory." 

Having  accepted,  thirty-six  years  ago,  the  distinguishing^  doctrines  of  the  Republican 
party  of  to-day  ;  having  during  years  of  that  period,  for  their  advancement,  subordinated 
all  other  issues,  acting  in  and  cooperating  with  political  organizations  with  whose  leading 
doctrines  I  sometimes  had  neither  sympathy  nor  belief;  having  labored  incessantly  for 
many  years  to  found  and  build  up  the  Republican  party,  and  having,  during  its  existence, 
taken  an  humble  part  in  its  grand  work,  I  gratefully  accept  the  nomination  thus  tendered, 
and  shall  endeavor,  if  it  shall  be  ratified  by  the  people,  faithfully  to  perform  the  duties  it 
imposes.  Respectfully  yours, 

HENRY  WILSON. 

GREELEY  FOR  SECESSION. 
THE  "  TRIBUNE"  DEFENDS  THE  RIGHT  TO  SECEDE. 
[From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  November  9.  1860.] 

And  now,  if  the  cotton  States  consider  the  value  of  the  Union  debatable,  we  maintain 
their  perfect  right  to  discuss  it.  Nay,  we  hold  with  Jefferson  to  the  inalienable  right  of 
communities  to  alter  or  abolish  forms  of  government  that  have  become  oppressive  or  in 
jurious-  and,  if  the  cotton  States  shall  decide  thafthey  can  do  better  outside  of  the  Union 
than  in  it,  we  insist  in  letting  them  go  in  peace.  The  right  to  secede  may  be  a  revolution 
ary  one,  but  it  exists,  nevertheless  ;  and  we  do  not  see  how  one  party  can  have  a  right  to  do 
what  another  party  has  a  right  to  prevent.  We  must  ever  resist  the  asserted  right  of  any 
State  to  remain  in  the  Union,  and  nullify  or  defy  the  laws  thereof ;  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union  is  quite  another  matter.  And,  whenever  a  considerable  section  of  our  Union  shall 
deliberately  resolve  to  go  out,  we  shall  resist  all  coercive  measures  designed  to  keep  it  in. 
We  hope  never  to  live  in  a  republic  whereof  one  section  is  pinned  to  the  residue  by  bay 
onets. 

AS  MUCH  RIGHT  AS  THE  COLONISTS  HAD  TO  REVOLT  IN  1776. 

[From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.  13,  1860]. 

We  have  repeatedly  asked  those  who  dissent  from  our  view  of  this  matter  to  tell  us 
frankly  whether  they  do  or  do  not  assent  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  statement  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  that  Governments  "  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed  •  and  that  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  those  ends, 
it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  Government,  &c  , 
&c.  We  do  heartily  accept  this  doctrine,  believing  it  intrinsically  sound  beneficent,  and 
one  that,  universally  accepted,  is  calculated  to  prevent  the  shedding  of  seas  of  human 
blood.  And  if  it  justified  the  secession  from  the  Bntish  Empire  of  three  millions  of  colon 
ists  in  1776,  we  do  not  see  why  it  would  not  justify  the  secession  of  five  mil  ions  of  Southrons 
from  the  Federal  Uuion  in  1861.  If  we  are  mistaken  on  this  point  why  does  not  some  on 
attempt  to  show  wherein  and  why  ?  For  our  own  part,  while  we  deny  the  right  of  slave 
holders  to  hold  slaves  against  the  will  of  the  latter,  we  cannot  see  how  twenty  millions  of 


552  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

people  can  rightfully  hold  ten,  or  even  five,  in  a  detested  union  with  them,  by  military 
force. 

Of  course,  we  understand  that  the  principle  of  Jefferson,  like  any  other  broad  generaliza 
tion  ,  may  be  pushed  to  extreme  and  baleful  consequences.  We  can  see  why  Governor's  Island 
should  not  be  at  liberty  to  secede  from  the  State  and  nation  and  allow  herself  to  be  covered 
with  French  and  British  batteries  commanding  and  threatening  our  city.  There  is  hardly 
a  great  principle  which  may  not  be  thus  "  run  into  the  ground/'  But  if  seven  or  eight  con 
tiguous  States  shall  present  themselves  authentically  at  Washington,  saying,  kt  We  hate  the 
federal  Union  ;  we  have  withdrawn  from  it ;  we  give  you  the  choice  between  acquiescing 
in  our  secession  and  arranging  amicably  all  incidently  questions  on  the  one  hand,  and  at 
tempting  to  subdue  us  on  the  other" — we  could  not  stand  up  for  coercion,  for  subjugation, 
for  we  do  not  think  it  would  be  just.  We  hold  the  right  of  self-government  sacred,  even 
when  invoked  in  behalf  of  those  who  deny  it  to  others.  So  much  for  the  question  of 
principle. 

Now  as  to  the  matter  of  policy  : 

South  Carolina  will  certainly  secede.  Several  other  cotton  States  will  probably  follow 
her  example.  The  border  States  are  evidently  reluctant  to  do  likewise.  South  Carolina 
has  grossly  insulted  them  by  her  dictatorial,  reckless  course.  What  she  expects  and  de 
sires  is  a  clash  of  arms  with  the  Federal  government,  which  will  at  once  commend  her  to  the 
sympathy  and  co-operation  of  every  slave  State,  and  to  the  sympathy,  at  least,  of  the  pro- 
slavery  minority  in  the  free  States.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  this  would  speedily  work 
a  political  revolution,  which  would  restore  to  slavery  all,  and  more  than  all,  it  has  lost  by 
the  canvass  of  1860. 

We  fear  that  Southern  madness  may  precipitate  a  bloody  collision  that  all  must  deplore. 
But  if  ever  u  seven  or  eight  States"  send  agents  to  Washington  to  say,  "  We  want  to  go  out 
of  the  Union,"  we  shall  feel  constrained  by  our  devotion  to  human  liberty  to  say,  Let 
them  go  !  And  we  do  not  see  how  we  could  take  the  other  side  without  coming  in  direct 
conflict  with  those  rights  of  man  which  we  hold  paramount  to  all  political  arrangements, 
however  convenient  and  advantageous. 

NO  RIGHT  TO  COERCE  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

[From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Dec.J24,  1860.] 

Most  certainly  we  believe  that  governments  are  made  for  peoples,  not  peoples  for 
governments — that  the  latter/' derive  their  just  power  from  the  consent  of  the  governed," 
and  whenever  a  portion  of  this  Union,  large  enough  to  form  an  independent,  self-subsisting 
nation,  shall  see  tit  to  say,  authentically,  to  the  residue,  "  We  want  to  get  away  from 
you,"  we  shall  say — and  we  trust  self-respect,  if  notregrad  for  the  principle  of  self-govern 
ment,  will  constrain  the  residue  of  the  American  people  to  say — "  Go  ?"  We  never  yet  had 
so  poor  an  opinion  of  ourselves  or  pur  neighbors  as  to  wish  to  hold  others  in  a  hated  con 
nection  with  us.  But  the  dissolution  of  a  government  cannot  be  effected  in  the  time  re 
quired  for  knocking  down  a  house  of  cards.  Let  the  cotton  States,  or  any  six  or  more 
States,  say,  unequivocally,  u  We  want  to  get  out  of  the  Union,"  and  propose  to  effect  their 
end  peaceably  and  inoffensively,  and  we  will  do  our  best  to  help  them  out — not  that  we 
want  them  to  go,  but  that  we  loathe  the  idea  of  compelling  them  to  stay.  All  we  ask  is 
that  they  exercise  a  reasonable  patience,  so  as  to  give  time  for  affecting  their  end  without 
bloodshed.  They  must  know,  as  well  as  we  do,  that  no  President  can  recognize  a  mere 
State  ordinance  of  secession,  nor  neglect  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  United  States  through 
out  their  whole  geographical  extent.  It  takes  two  to  make  a  bargain,  whether  of  admission 
or  secession  ;  but  with  reasonable  forbearance  all  may  be  brought  about. 

THE  MORAL  RIGHT  OF  SECESSION. 

[From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  of  23d  of  February,  1861,  Five  days  After  the  "  Inauguration" 

of  Jeff.  Davis]. 

We  have  repeatedly  said,  and  we  once  more  insist,  that  the  great  principle  embodied 
by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  that  Governments  derive  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  is  sound  and  just  ;  and  that  if  the  slave 
States,  the  cotton  States,  or  the  Gulf  States  only  choose  to  form  an  independent  nation, 
they  have  a  clear  moral  right  to  do  so.  We  have  said,  and  still  maintain,  that  provided 
the  cotton  States  have  fully  and  definitively  made  up  their  minds  to  go  by  themselves, 
there  is  no  need  of  fighting  about  it ;  for  they  have  only  to  exercise  reasonable  patience 
and  they  will  be  let  off  in  peace  and  good  will.  Whenever  it  shall  be  clear  that  the  great 
body  of  the  Southern  people  have  become  conclusively  alienated  from  the  Union,  and 
anxious  to  escape  from  it,  we  will  do  our  best  to  forward  their  views. 

MR.  GREELEY  IN  1862. 

[In  a  letter  to  H.  McChesney,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  dated  September  23,  1862,  and  published 
in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  the  z6th  of  the  same  month,  Horace  Greeley,  speaking  of 
the  right  of  secession,  thus  declared  himself:] 

•'  But  I  still  insist  that,  if  it  had  been  proved  that  the  people  of  the  slave  States — or 
even  of  the  cotton  States  alone— had  really  desired  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  had  peace- 


APPENDIX.  553 

fully,  deliberately  and  authoritatively  expressed  that  wish,  we  should  have  assented   to  it. 
At  all  events,  /should." 

Adult  readers  will  rememper  that  when  the  secession  fever  broke  out  in  the  South,  the 
Hon  Alexander  H.  Stephens  opposed  .the  vile  heresy,  and  delivered  one  of  the  ablest  speeches 
of  his  life  in  the  Georgia  Convention  in  opposition.  It  may  not  be  known  to  them  that  the 
only  answer  ever  made  to  that  eloquent  appeal  to  remain  in  the  Union  and  support  the 

fovernment  was  the  reading  to  the  Convention  by  Robert  Toombs  of  an  editorial  written 
y  Horace  Greeley,  from  the  New  York  Tribune,  wherein  the  right  of  the  South  to  secede 
was  conceded  and  placed  on  the  same  high  plane  of  conduct  with  that  of  our  revolutionary 
fathers  when  they  seceded  from  Great  Britain. 

GREELEY  EULOGIZES  GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

[From,  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  March  4,  1870.] 

The  quotations  of  gold,  which  have  been  steadily  and  rapidly  going  down  during  the 
past  fortnight,  fell  yesterday  till  the  premium  reached  the  vicinity  of  113,  fluctuating  the 
greater  part  of  the  day  a  few  fractions  above  that  point,  but  at  one  time  striking  a  fraction 
below  it.  The  quotations  of  government  bonds  indicated,  during  the  day,  that  they  were 
on  the  verge  of  par  in  gold,  most  of  the  varieties  being  worth  but  little  less  than  gold,  while 
one  variety  was  at  a  gold  premium  over  its  face  value. 

That  the  day  of  which  we  are  able  to  chronicle  these  highly  favored  financial  facts  was 
also  the  day  that  marks  the  termination  of  the  first  year  of  President  Grant's  administra 
tion  of  public  affairs,  is  a  circumstance  which  the  country  will  not  lose  sight  of,  and  which 
the  friends  of  the  President  will  witness  with  unfeigned  joy. 

No  one  who  has  observed  the  fluctuations  will  believe  that  there  is  any  more  likeli 
hood  of  gold  returning  to  130  than  there  is  of  its  returning  to  200.  It  has  not  gone  down 
through  speculative  combinations,  but  through  the  operations  of  general  causes  that  are 
not  within  the  control  of  the  Gold  Room. 

The  things,  however,  for  which  the  administration  deserves  the  highest  credit  in  con 
nection  with  the  improvement  in  our  financial  condition,  are  such  as  relate  to  the  carrying 
out  of  Grant's  policy  of  honesty  and  retrenchment.  When,  by  his  election,  the  country 
and  the  world  received  assurances  that  the  financial  honor  of  the  government  would  be 
maintained  ;  when  the  policy  of  repudiation  was  spurned  by  the  people,  and  Congress 
gave  its  pledge  to  support  the  public  credit  by  paying  the  principal  and  interest  on  the  debt 
in  gold — the  first  great  steps  towards  financial  redemption  were  taken.  When  Grant  an 
nounced  his  brief  and  simple  policy  for  remedying  the  confusion  of  our  financial  state ; 
when  he  began  carrying  out  practically  the  programme  he  had  announced,  it  was  evident 
that  we  were  about  to  take  a  long  stride  toward  the  settlement  of  our  troubles.  But  a 
year's  experience  of  this  policy  had  gone  far  beyond  public  expectation.  To  say  that  the 
debt  had  been  decreased  during  the  year  of  his  administration  $100,000,000  is  but  to  rep/e- 
sent  a  small  part  of  what  has  actually  been  achieved.  To  say  that  during  the  first  half  of 
the  current  year  the  revennes  were  increased  by  more  faithful  collection,  at  the  rate  of  $30,- 
000,000  a  year  over  the  previous  year,  does  not  indicate  the  actual  result  gained  for  the 
public  treasury.  To  say  that  the  expenses  of  the  government  have  been  vastly  reduced, 
and  that  the  interest  has  been  decreased  by  the  diminution  of  the  debt  is  only  to  give  a 
hint  of  the  retrenchment  that  has  been  carried  out.  But  these  things  have  told  with  im 
mense  effect  upon  our  financial  condition,  and  it  is  to  the  admirable  policy  and  action  of  the 
administration  that  we  owe  the  improvement  which  is  now  going  on  to  its  consummation. 

A  Democratic  paper  recently  took  the  trouble  to  attempt  to  show  that  neither  Grant 
nor  his  policy  deserved  any  credit  for  the  brightening  financial  outlook.  But  Grant  and 
his  policy  deserve  the  very  highest  credit.  Suppose  his  policy  had  been  of  a  different  kind 
from  what  it  has  been.  Suppose  he  had  collected  the  revenue  in  the  reckless  manner  of 
which  we  had  so  much  previous  experience.  Suppose  the  debt  had  been  increased  as  it 
was  in  the  latter  part  of  Johnson's  administration — suppose  the  wasteful  expenditures  of 
Johnson's  time  had  been  continued — suppose  we  were  experimenting  with  greenback 
theory  and  the  repudiation  fraud — does  anybody  suppose  that  our  bonds  would  now  be  at  or 
near  par,  or  that  gold  would  be  quoted  at  the  present  price,  or  that  our  credit  would  stand 
where  it  does  abroad  ?  To  ask  the  question  is  to  answer  it,  and  to  show  the  absurdity  of 
the  reasoning  of  the  Democratic  organ. 

It  is  not  by  the  display  of  any  immense  genius,  or  of  any  gigantic  or  mysterious  "plan" 
that  these  great  results  have  been  wrought.  It  is  by  the  carrying  out  of  a  few  simple  prin 
ciples,  the  principles  of  honesty  and  economy ,  which  President  Grant  announced  one  year 
ago.  There  can  be  no  more  beneficent  natural  genius  than  is  found  in  the  power  to  per 
ceive  and  enforce  those  principles.  And  having  aided  in  the  election  of  Grant,  it  gives  us 
pride  and  joy  to  be  able,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  his  administration,  to  point  the 
country  to  the  results  that  have  already  been  achieved  —  to  speak  of  the  growth  of  the 
national  welfare,  as  shown  in  the  financial  improvement  no  less  than  in  the  consummation 
of  the  peaceful  policy  of  reconstruction. 

MEANING  OF  A  DEMOCRATIC  VICTORY. 

[From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  February,  1871.] 
We  like  Gen.  Grant  ;  but  \ve  care  more  for  Republican  ascendancy  than  for  any  man's 


554  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     /2. 

personal  fortunes.  It  is  in  our  view  of  great  importance  that  the  opposition  shall  be  kept 
out  of  power,  whilst  it  is  of  comparatively  small  moment  that  A  or  B  should  tenant  the 
White  House.  For  a  Democratic  national  triumph  means  a  restoration  to  power  of  those 
who  deserted  their  seats  in  Congress  and  their  places  under  the  last  Democratic  President 
to  plunge  the  country  into  the  Red  Sea  of  Secession  and  Rebellion.  Though  you  paint  an 
inch  thick,  to  this  complexion  you  must  come  at  last.  The  brain,  the  heart,  the  soul,  of  the 
present  Democratic  party  is  the  rebel  element  at  the  South  with  its  Northern  allies  and 
sympathizers.  It  is  rebel  to  the  core  to-day,  hardly  able  to  reconcile  the  defeats  of  Lee, 
Johnson,  Bragg,  Hood  and  Price,  and  the  consequent  downfall  of  its  faith  in  Divine  Provi 
dence.  It  would  hail  the  election  of  a  Democratic  President  in  1872.  as  a  virtual  reversal 
of  the  Appomatpx  surrender.  It  would  come  into  power  with  the  hate,  the  chagrin,  the 
wrath,  the  mortification,  of  ten  bitter  years,  to  impel  and  guide  its  steps.  It  would  devote 
itself  to  taking  off  or  reducing  tax  after  tax  until  the  Treasury  was  deprived  of  the  means  of 
paying  interest  on  the  national  debt,  and  would  hail  the  tidings  of  national  bankruptcy 
with  unalloyed  gladness  and  unconcealed  exultation.  Whatever  chastisement  may  be  de 
served  by  our  national  sins,  we  must  hope  that  this  disgrace  and  humiliation  will  be 
spared  us. 

GRANT'S  GENIUS. 

A  DEMOCRATIC  TRIBUTE "  SOLID  WORK*' —  NOT  MERE  SHOW. 

[From  the  N.  Y.  World,  April  n,  1865.] 

Gen.  Grant's  history  should  teach  us  to  discriminate  better  than  we  Americans  are  ape 
to  do  between  glitter  and  solid  -work.  Our  proneness  to  run  alter  demagogues  and  spouters 
may  find  a  wholesome  corrective  in  the  study  of  such  a  character  as  his.  The  qualities  by 
which  great  things  are  accomplished  are  here  seen  to  have  no  necessary  connection  with 
showy  and  superficial  accomplishments.  When  the  mass  of  men  look  upon  such  a  char 
acter  they  may  learn  a  truer  respect  for  themselves  and  each  other;  they  are  taught  by  it 
that  high,  qualities  and  great  abilities  are  consistent  with  the  simplicity  of  taste,  con 
tempt  for  parade,  and  plainness  of  manners  with  which  direct  and  earnest  men  have  a 
strong  natural  sympathy.  Ulysses  Grant  the  tanner,  Ulysses  Grant  the  unsuccessful  ap 
plicant  for  the  post  of  City  Surveyor  of  St.  Louis,  Ulysses  Grant}  the  driver  into  that  city 
of  his  two-horse  team  with  a  load  of  wood  to  sell,  had  within  him  every  -manly  quality 
which  will  cause  the  name  of  Lieutenant  General  Grant  to  live  forever  in  history.  His 
career  is  a  lesson  in  practical  democracy ;  it  is  a  quiet  satire  on  the  dandyism,  the  puppy 
ism  and  the  shallow  affectation  of  our  fashionable  exquisites  as  well  as  upon  the  swagger 
of  our  plausible,  glib-tongued  demagogues.  Not  by  any  means  that  great  qualities  are  in 
consistent  with  cultivated  manners  and  a  fluent  elocution  ;  but  that  such  superficial  acconv- 
plishments  are  no  measure  of  worth  or  ability. 

THE  GREATEST  OF  ALL  COMMANDERS. 

General  Grant's  last  brilliant  campaign  sets  the  final  seal  upon  his  reputation.  It 
stamps  him  as  the  superior  of  his  able  antagonist  as  well  as  of  all  the  commanders  that 
have  served  with  or  under  him  in  the  great  campaigns  of  the  last  year. 

*  *  *  *  **^&*  *         J  *  *  * 

Grant  stands  pre-eminent  among  all  the  Generals  who  have  served  in  this  war  in  the 
completeness  of  his  final  results.  He  has  owed  nothing  to  accident ;  and,  both  in  the 
West  and  the  East,  he  has  accomplished  the  most  arduous  things  that  were  to  be  done. 
Gen.  Grant  has  exhibited  the  utmost  strength  of  will  of  which  the  highest  type  of  man 
hood  is  capable.  The  defenses  of  Vicksburg  and  the  defenses  of  Richmond  were  both 
deemed  impregnable,  and  were  defended  with  a  proportionable  confidence  and  obstinacy  ;. 
but  they  both  yielded,  at  last,  to  Grant's  matchless  persistence  and  unequalled  strategy. 
And,  in  both  cases,  he  not  only  took  the  long-contested  positions,  but  compelled  the  sur 
render  of  the  whole  force  defending  them.  Nothing  could  be  more  clean  and  complete, 
even  in  imagination,  than  Gen.  Grant's  masterly  execution.  He  did  not  merely,  in  each 
case,  acquire  a  position  which  was  the  key  of  a  wide  theatre  of  operations  ;  he  did  not 
merely  beat  or  disable  the  opposing  force  ;  he  left  no  fragment  of  it  in  existence  except  as 
prisoners  of  war  subject  to  his  disposal. 

HIS  "  SURENESS  OF  JUDGMENT." 

If  anybody  is  so  obtuse  or  so  wrong-headed  as  to  see  nothing  great  in  Gen.  Grant  be 
yond  his  marvelous  tenacity  of  will,  let  that  doubter  explain,  if  he  can,  how  has  it  happened 
that,  since  Grant  rose  to  high  command,  this  quality  has  always  been  exerted  in  conspicu 
ous  energy  precisely  at  the  point  on  which  everything  in  his  whole  sphere  of  operations 
hinged.  There  has  been  no  display  of  great  qualities  on  small  occasions  ;  no  expenditure 
of  herculean  effort  to  accomplish  objects  not  of  the  first  magnitude.  It  is  only  a  very 
clear-sighted  and  a  -very  comprehensive  mind  that  could  always  thus  have  laid  the  whole 
emphasis  of  an  indomitable  soul  so  precisely  on  the  emphatic  place.  How,  if  he  be  not  a 
General  of  the  first  order  of  intellect,  as  well  as  the  most  heroic  determination,  does  it 
happen  that  in  assigning  great  and  brilliant  parts  to  his  subordinate  commanders,  he  has 
never,  when  the  results  of  his  strategy  were  fully  unfolded,  appeared  in  the  picture  except 


APPENDIX. 


555 


as  the  central  figure  ?  However  it  may  seem  during  the  progress  of  one  of  his  great  com 
bined  campaigns,  it  always  turns  out  at  last,  when  it  reaches  that  completeness  and  finish 
in  which  he  contrives  to  Wave  his  campaigns  end,  that  we  see  him  standing  in  the  fore 
ground,  and  that  the  grouping  is  always  such  that  the  glory  of  the  other  generals,  instead 
of  eclipsing  his  own,  gives  it  additional  luster  ? 

It  is  this  sureness  of  judgment  j/hich  sees  precisely  what  are  the  objects  that  justify 
the  utmost  stretch  of  persistence  •  it  is  this  ability  to  take  in  the  whole  field  of  view  in  just 
perspective  and  due  subordination  of  parts,  that  is  the  mark  of  a  superior  mind.  Gen. 
Grant  has  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  critics  the  question  whether  it  belongs  to  him.  He 
has  won  his  greatest  triumph  over  the  most  skillful  and  accomplished  general  on  the  other 
side  ;  over  a  general  who  foiled  him  long  enough  to  prove  his  great  mastery  of  the  art  of 
war  ;  and  the  completeness  of  whose  defeat  is  a  testimony  to  Grant's  genius  such  as  a  vic 
tory  over  any  other  general  of  the  Confederacy,  or  even  an  earlier  victory  over  Lee  himself 
could  not  have  given.  Apply  to  Gen.  Grant  what  test  you  will  ;  measure  him  by  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  obstacles  he  has  surmounted,  by  the  value  of  the  positions  he  has  gained,  by 
the  fame  of  the  antagonist  over  whom  he  has  triumphed,  by  the  achievements  of  his  most 
illustrious1  co-workers,  by  the  sureness  with  which  he  directs  his  indomitable  energy  to  the 
vital  point  which  is  the  key  of  a  vast  field  of  operations,  or  by  that  supreme  test  of  consum 
mate  ability,  the  absolute  completeness  of  his  results,  and  he  vindicates  his  claim  to  stand 
next  after  Napoleon  and  Wellington,  among  the  great  soldiers  of  this  country,  if  not  on  a 
level  with  the  latter. 

SUMNER'S   FALSEHOOD   CONCERNING   STANTON. 

[From  Sumner's  speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  May  31.  1872.] 

"  Something  also  must  be  attributed  to  individual  character  ;  and  here  I  express  no 
opinion  of  my  own  :  I  shall  allow  another  to  speak  in  solemn  words  echoed  from  the  tomb. 
"  My  last  visit  [to  Stanton]  was  marked  by  a  communication  never  to  be  forgotten.  As 
I  entered  his  bedroom,  where  I  found  him  reclining  on  a  sofa,  propped  by  pillows,  he 
reached  out  his  hand,  already  clamy  cold,  and  in  reply  to  my  inquiry,  'How  are  you?' 
answered,  'Waiting  for  my  furlough.'  Then  at  once  with  singular  solemnity  he  said,  'I 
have  something  to  say  to  you.'  When  I  was  seated  he  proceeded  without  one  word  of  in 
troduction  :  'I  know  General  Grant  better  than  any  other  person  in  the  country  can  know 
him.  It  was  my  duty  to  study  him,  and  I  did  so  night  and  day,  when  I  saw  him  and  when 
I  did  not  see  him,  and  now  I  tell  you  what  I  know,  he  cannot  govern  this  country.'  I  ob 
served,  "  What  you  say  is  very  broad.'  It  is  as  true  as  it  is  broad,'  he  replied  promptly.  I 
added1  '  You  are  tardy:  you  tell  this  late  ;  why  did  you  not  say  it  before  his  nomination  ?' 
He  answered  that  he  was  not  consulted  about  the  nomination,  and  hacrlio  opportunity  of" 
expressing  his  opinion  upon  it,  besides  being  much  occupied  at  the  time  by  his  duties  as. 
Secretary  of  War  and  his  contest  with  the  President.  I  followed  by  saying,  *  But  you  took 
part  in  the  presidential  election,  and  made  a  succession  of  speeches  for  him  in  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania.'  k  I  spoke,'  said  he,  '  but  I  never  introduced  the  name  of  General  Grant.  1 
spoke  for  the  Republican  party  and  the  Republican  cause.'  This  was  the  last  time  I  saw 
Mr  Stanton.  A  few  days  later  I  followed  him  to  the  grave  where  he  now  rests." 

[Extract  from  Stanton's  Speech  at  Steubenville,  O.,  Sept.  25,  1868.] 
"Grant  stands  this  day  before  us  the  foremost  military  commander  in  the  world,  with 
peace  for  his  watchword.  [  Applause.]  Why  should  he  not  be  elected  ?  What  reason  has 
any  lover  of  his  country  for  not  voting  for  him?  By  his  side  stands  Schuyler  Colfax,  who, 
by  his  own  energy,  good  character  and  industry,  advanced  from  the  printing  office  to  the 
Speaker's  chair,  and  for  three  successive  terms  has  filled  that  high  office  with  honor  and  dis 
tinction.  Honest  and  upright  men  have  been  nominated  for  your  representatives  in  Con 
gress,  pledged  to  stand  by  Grant  and  the  country.  Why,  then,  again  I  ask,  should  he  and  they 
not  receive  your  support?  The  history  of  Grant  is  known  to  you  and  the  whole  world. 
Educated  at  West  Point,  he  served  with  distinction  through  the  Mexican  war,  and  when  it 
was  ended,  unwilling  to  be  a  drone,  resigned  his  commission,  and  engaged  in  the  pursuits 
of  civil  life.  Leaving  his  peaceful  pursuits  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  he  joined 
the  army,  and  soon  advanced  to  the  rank  of  major  general  commanding  an  army.  After 
^varied  and  important  services,  he  moved  upon  the  enemy's  works  at  Donelson,  and  com 
pelled  their  commander,  Buckner,  to  surrender  with  18,000  prisoners  of  war.  Soon  after  he 
grappled  with  Beauregard,  on  the  field  of  Shiloh,  and  drove  him  and  his  routed  army  from 
the  field.  Resolved  to  open  the  navigation  of  the  Missi 
fought  and  defeated  Gen.  Johnson,  chased  the  rebel  ge 


the  field.  Resolved  to  open  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river,  he  ran  its  batteries, 
fought  and  defeated  Gen.  Johnson,  chased  the  rebel  general  Pemberton  into  Vicksburg, 
.uul  forced  him  to  surrender  with  30,000  prisoners  of  war.  [Applause.]  Advanced  to  the 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  West,  he  fought  and  defeated  Bragg  at  Chattanooga, 
shattered  his  army  and  delivered  that  vast  territory  from  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  Advanc 
ed  still  higher,  as  Lieutenaut-General  he  changed  his  headquarters  to  the  Potomac.  Forty 
days'  marching  and  fighting  through  the  Wilderness  drove  Lee  and  his  army  into  Rich 
mond.  Compelled  to  evacuate  that  city,  Lee  was  chased  to  Appomattox  Court-House, 
and  forced  to  surrender  himself  and  his  arms  and  men  as  prisoners  of  war,  which  practically 
brought  the  war  to  an  end.  [Applause.]  And  now  I  ask,  what  reason  has  any  man  to 
vote  against  Gen.  Grant?  His  capacity  and  'integrity  for  civil  administration  -were 
tqally  manifest  in  the  vast  territories  in  -nf'-'^h  he  operated." 

33 


556 


STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 


|  Mr.  Stanton  continued  in  the  some  strain  some  minutes  further,  and  in  other  speeches 
during  the  campaign—particularly  one  at  Philadelphia,  enforced  upon  his  hearers  the  mer 
its  of  Gen.  Grant  as  a  patriot,  a  general  and  a  wise  administrator.  Senator  Carpenter  in 
his  speech  in  the  Senate,  June  $d,  1872,  thus  further  exposes  the  falsehood  of  Sumner's 
statement :  "  I  know,"  he  says,  (and  Mr.  Carpenter  was  an  intimate  associate  of  Stanton's 
in  those  days,)  "  that  in  the  serious  illness  which  terminated  so  disastrously,  he  frequently 
had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  course  of  the  Administration,  to  matters  that  were  pending  i» 
Congress,  and  I  do  know,  and  I  can  testify,  and  I  hold  it  to  be  my  solemn  duty  to  testify 
that  in  all  those  interviews,  from  first  to  last,  from  the  time  I  first  made  his  acquaintance 
down  to  the  hour  of  his  death,  I  never  heard  him  say  of  General  Grant  anything  that 
was  not  of  the  kindest  nature  and  of  the  highest  praise  *  *  *  * 

But  the  quotations  I  have  made  are  sufficient  to  show  either  that  Mr.  Stanton  on  his 
death-bed  uttered  a  falsehood  to  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  a  falsehood  which  he 
must  have  known  to  be  susceptible  of  easy  contradiction  by  reference  to  the  reports  of  hib 
speeches  during  that  campaign,  or  that  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  deliberately  falsi 
fied  Mr.  Stanton  ;  and  I  am  content  that  the  American  people  shall  judge  between  them."] 

BAYONET    LEGISLATION. 

OK    WHAT    IT    CONSISTS. 

[From  the  Utica  (N.  Y.)  Herald.] 

Some  of  the  pretexts  which  are  given  for  opposition  to  the  national  administration  and 
the  Republican  party,  come  with  a  particularly  ill  grace  from  those  who  make  them.  Con 
spicuously,  the  charge  of  centralization  of  power,  of  "  bayonet-legislation,"  illustrates  the 
weakness  of  those  who  have  taken  active  part  in  all  the  acts  for  establishing  order  at  the 
South,  and  who  now  denounce  those  measures  in  the  height  of  their  success.  The  great 
steps  toward  "centralization,"  if  any  have  been  taken,  are  the  amendments  to  the  National 
Constitution,  perfecting  emancipation,  conferring  civil  rights,  maintaining  the  National 
credit,  and  assuring  a  free  ballot.  Is  it  against  these  that  "assault  is  now  to  be  directed? 
If  this  is  the  offense  of  the  Republican  party,  let  a  proclimation  be  issued,  and  let  the  ver 
dict  of  the  country  be  pronounced.  For  in  those  amendments  are  written  the  victories  of 
the  war.  Beginning  there,  a  cry  against  centralization  is  intelligible.  The  persons  who 
deny  the  validity  of  these  new  guaranteees  of  freedom,  which,  for  the  first  time,  under  our 
Republican  system  complete  and  symmetrical,  submit  for  adjudication  a  question  which 
the  American  people  will  not  be  slow  to  decide. 

Out  of  these  amendments  have  sprung  two,  and  only  two,  laws  of  especial  importance. 
A  constitution  will  not  inforce  itself.  Statutes  must  apply  their  principles,  and  assign  the 
duties  of  Courts.  So  far  as  criticism  is  directed  against  the  administration,  it  runs  against 
laws  enacted,  and  no  pretense  is  put  forward  that  the  President  has  exceed  by  an  iota  his 
legal  authority.  The  two  laws  to  which  partisans  now  take  exception  are  the  enforcement 
act  and  the  Ku-Klux  act.  Neither  of  these  involves  a  claim  for  federal  sovreignty  so  broad 
and  sweeping  as  is  embodied  in  the  internal  revenue  law.  That  puts  the  strong  hand  on 
the  citizen  and  his  property,  and  enters  his  home  and  extorts  the  inmost  secrets  of  his  life. 
The  Republican  party  makes  haste  to  mitigate  and  remove  that  necessity  of  the  war,  with 
little  help  from  Democrats  or  their  new  allies.  Of  that  inqusitorial  and  arbitary  exercise  of 
national  power,  our  enemies  say  little,  for  the  speedy  removal  of  it  is  one  of  the  greatest 
triumphs  of  the  present  administrations  and  of  the  Republican  party  in  Congress. 

Upon  two  laws,  then,  the  indictment  must  proceed,  if  at  all.  The  enforcement  act  was 
passed,  May  31,  1870,  and  its  purpose  and  character  are  designated  by  its  title  :  u  To  en 
force  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  in  the  several  States  of  the  Union 
who  have  hitherto  been  denied  that  right  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude."  The  law  naturally  and  wisely  limited  and  defined  the  methods  by  which  the 
rights  of  our  new  citizens  should  be  secured,  and  one  of  its  leading  features  is  the  placing 
in  the  courts  of  powers  which  might  have  been  confided  to  the  executive.  Eor  example,  the 
officers  designated  to  watch  and  verify  registry  and  elections,  are  appointed  by  the  courts. 
Observe  the  time  and  circumstances  which  called  for  this  law.  The  validity  of  the  amend 
ments  was  denied  by  a  great  party  and  by  many  States.  They  must  be  enforced.  The 
mode  was  not  left  to  the  choice  of  the  President.  It  was  carefully  defined  by  written  stat 
ute,  and  so  far  as  could  be,  the  duty  was  imposed  on  the  courts.  Even  Senator  Tnimbull 
supported  the  bill  on  its  passage.  His  intense  dread  of  "  bayonet  legislation"  took  no 
alarm  at  its  provisions.  Clearly  the  "  Liberals"  do  not  base  their  charges  against  the  Re 
publican  party  upon  the  enforcement  act  of  1870. 

In  1871  the  Democratic  minority  of  a  committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
speaking  of  North  Carolinia,  said  :  "All  the  disorders  which  exist  in  that  State,  were  crea 
ted  by  the  unjustifiable  and  unconstitutional  legislation  of  Congress,  in  regard  to  its  govern 
ment."  So  Democratic  Senators  admitted  that  disorders  existed,  and  they  were  political 
in  character.  What  was  true  of  North  Carolina,  was  true  in  a  worse  decree  of  other  States. 
Murder,  mutilation,  and  outrages  were  perpetrated  on  unnoffensive  citizens  only  because 
they  were  Republicans.  An  investigation  committee  was  appointed  ;  the  KuKlux  law  was 
passed  ;  and  to  many  States,  almost  wholly,  and  to  all  in  good  part,  quiet  and  order  have 
been  restored.  This  has  been  done  by  due  process  of  lavr,  except  that  an  executive  procla- 


APPENDIX.  557 

Tnation  of  warning  was  issued  in  two  cases.  This  law  after  full  discussion,  was  passed.  The 
Tribunes  amestlv  demanded  it.  Among  others  Senators  Fenton,  Schurz,  Trumbufl,  Tipton. 
who  are  now  "  Liberal"  apostles,  and  denounce  bitterly  >k  bayonet  legislation,"  claimed  to  be 
good  Republicans  after  its  passage.  Clearly  their  antagonism  is  not  to  the  Ku  Klux  act  of 
1871,  which  has  achieved  such  benificent  results. 

Nor  is  such  criticism  based  on  the  reconstruction  laws,  by  which  the  several  States 
were  restored  to  loyalty  and  representation  ;  for  these  men  participated  in  their  passage. 
Moreover,  those  acts  have  accomplished  their  purpose,  and  passed  into  history.  As  things 
of  the  past,  they  cannot  divide  parties  in  the  present  action. 

What,  then,  is  the  "  bayonet  legislation,'  which  alarms  the  timid  nerves  of  persons, 
who,  failing  to  control  patronage,  seek  pretext  for  opposition  to  the  Republican  party  ? 
The  issue  has  been  created  during  the  past  session  of  Congress.  The  moderation  of  the  Re 
publican  party  could  not  be  more  strongly  expressed  than  in  the  fact,  that  the  only  pro 
vision  of  law,  even  in  pretext,  repressive,  passed  at  the  recent  session,  authorizes  wit 
nesses  of  the  election  of  representatives  and  presidential  electors.  In  some  southern  States 
intimidation  and  violation,  at  elections,  are  alleged,  Difficulty  has  existed  to  obtain  testi 
mony,  and  threats  and  danger  are  assigned  as  the  reason.  Here  is  an  evil  which  might 
bring  into  dispute  a  presidential  election  or  the  political  complexion  of  Congress.  The 
remedy  proposed  is  not  "  bayonets,"  is  not  the  interference  of  the  President.  It  is  simply 
that  the  United  States  courts,  when  requested,  shall  designate  two  witnesses,  one  from  each 
party,  to  observe  the  proceedings  at  elections  so  that  in  contested  cases,  sure  evidence  can  be 
obtained.  Should  they  be  driven  away,  violence  will  be  apparent.  Their  presence  will 
go  far  to  guarantee  regular  balloting  and  honest  returns.  Is  there  a  reasonable  citizen, 
who  says  that  the  eye  of  the  Republic  shall  not  be  over  the  elections  in  which  its  very  ex 
istence  is  involved?  Could  there  be  a  less  objectionable  method  to  guard  against  alleged 
intimidation  and  violence  ?  Yet  absolutely  this  is  the  whole  sum  of  legislation,  repressive, 
centralizing,  despotic,  which  Congress,  at  its  recent  session,  placed  on  the  statute  books. 
The  pretext  of  "  bayonet  legislation"  advanced  for  opposition  to  the  Republican  party,  has 
less  basis  than  the  mists  of  the  morning. 

THE  AMENDED  TAX   LAV. 

THE  PRINCIPAL  CHANGES   IN   THE  TARIFF. 

The  new  tariff  bill,  recently  passed  by  Congress,  contains  forty-seven  section.-.. 
Most  of  the  changes  prescribed  will  take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  August  next. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  new  duties  provided  in  the  first  section  of  the  bill,  witk 
a  comparative  statement  of  the  duties  in  the  present  law  : 

Tariff  of  Tariff  of 

1870.  1872. 

Bituminous  coal,  ton - $125  $     75 

Slack  coal  or  culne,  per  ct 25     bush.  40 

Salt,  in  bulk,  per  100  Ibs -       18 

Salt  in  sacks,  barrels,  &c.,  per  100  Ibs 24  12 

Oatmeal,  per  cent i°    per  Ib. 

Potatoes 25     bush-  »5 

Bend,  or  belting  leather,  per  cent 35  15 

Calfskins,  tanned  or  dressed,  per  cent 3° 

Upper  leather  and  dressed  skins,  N.  O.  P.,  percent 

Morocco  skins  tanned,  but  unfinished,  per  cent 

Chicory,  ground  or  unground,  per  Ib - 4a5  * 

Timber,  hewn  or  sawed,   percent 20 

Timberused  in  buildiug  wharfs,  per  cent ..r 20 

On  garden  seeds  and  other  seeds  for  agricultural  purposes,  not 

otherwise  provided  for,  per  cent 3° 

Ginger,  ground,  per  Ib 

Ginger,  preserved  or  pickled  and  essence,  per  cent 30 

Chocolate,  per  Ib - 

Cocoa,  prepared  or  manufactured 

The  second  section  of  the  new  bill  contains  the  ten  per  cent  reductions  on  many  of  the 
articles  in  the  present  tariff.  The  principal  articles  affected  by  this  section  are  :  All  man- 


exrept  gloves 'and  mittens,  and  on  liquorice  paste  and  on  Itquorice  mice.      Most  of  these 
duties  apply  only  where  the  articles  named  are  the  component  part  of  the  c 
manufacture; 
The   fou 
chiefly  used  i 


manufactures. 

The   fourth  section  specifies  many  changes  in  the  rate  of  duty  on  certain  article*, 
liefly  used  in  manufacturing  and  on  what  the  tariff  is  slightly  reduced. 


558 


THE  STRUGGLE  OF    72. 


The  fifth  section  contains  the  free  list,  which  is  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  many 
articles,  although  most  of  them  are  unimportant  to  the  general  reader. 

The  sixth  section  provides  that  for  two  years  after  the  passage  of  the  act,  machinery 
and  apparatus  designed  for  steam  towage  on  canals,  and  not  now  manufactured  in  the 
United  States,  may  be  imported  by  any  State  or  by  any  person  duly  authorized  by  the 
Legislature  of  any  State,  free  of  duty,  subject  to  such  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  seventh  section  establishes  the  standard  of  vinegar  to  be  that  strength  which 
requires  thirty-five  grains  of  bicarbonate  of  potash  to  neutralize  one  ounce  troy  of 
vinegar. 

Sections  9,  10  and  n  provide  for  drawbacks  in  favor  of  materials  used  in  American 
manufactures,  such  as  firearms,  scales,  shovels,  axes,  harness  and  agricultural  machines, 
generally  ;  nearly  all  the  articles  used  in  ship  building,  when  the  ships  are  to  be  used  in 
the  foreign  trade  ;  and  s?lt  used  in  curing  fish. 

REDUCTION  OF  EXCISE  TAXES. 

Section  12  increases  the  tax  on  distilled  spirits  from  50  to  70  cents.  This  section 
amends  the  system  of  collecting  the  tax,  and  is  very  long.  It  also  provides  that  all  wines, 
liquors  or  compounds,  known  or  denominated  as  wine,  and  on  all  liquors  not  made  from 
grapes,  currants,  rhubarb  or  berries  grown  in  the  United  States,  paying  a  tax  of  ten  cents 
per  bottle  or  package  containing  not  more  than  one  pint,  or  of  twentv  cents  per  bottle  or 
package,  containing  more  than  one  pint  and  not  more  than  one  quart,  and  at  the  same  rate 
for  any  larger  quantity  of  such  merchandize,  however  the  same  may  be  put  up,  or  whatever 
may  be  the  package,  to  be  paid  by  stamps. 

Sections  13  to  39  contain  voluminous  directions  to  brewers  and  distillers  for  the  conduct 
of  their  business. 

Section  31  establishes  a  uniform  tax  of  twenty  cents  on  tobacco  ;  and  the  next  three 
sections  provide  numerous  amendments  regulating  the  collection  of  taxes  and  penalties. 
Section  35  repeals  the  tax  on  coal  gas. 

Section  36  provides  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  October,  1872,  all  the  taxes  im 
posed  by  stamps  under  and  by  virtue  of  schedule  B  of  section  170 of  the  said  act,  approved 
June  20,  1864,  and  the  several  acts  amendatory  thereof,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  re 
pealed,  excepting  only  the  tax  of  two  cents  on  bank  checks,  drafts  or  orders  ;  provided 
that  where  any  mortgage  has  been  executed  and  recorded,  or  may  be  executed  and  recorded 
before  the  first  day  of  October,  Anno  Domini,  1872,  to  secure  the  payment  of  bonds  or  obli 
gations  that  may  be  made  and  issued  from  time  to  time,  and  such  mortgage  not  being 
stamped,  all  such  bonds  or  obligations  so  made  and  issued  on  or  after  the  said  first  day  of 
October,  Anno  Domini  1872,  shall  not  be  subject  to  any  stamp  duty,  but  only  such  of  their 
bonds  or  obligations  as  may  have  been  made  and  issued  before  the  day  last  aforesaid. 

The  remainder  of  the  bill  is  occupied  with  details  amending  the  time  of  paying  bank 
taxes,  extending  the  benefits  of  ths  charitable  exemptions,  abolishing  and  regulating  in 
formers'  moieties,  remitting  the  shipbuilders'  taxes,  reducing  and  consolidating  the 
revenue  districts,  and  providing  means  for  recovering  delinquent  taxes. 


STAMPS    ABOLISHED. 

!Xt. 


The  following  stamps  are  abolished  by  the  new  tax  law,  after  first  October  ne 

Contracts  for  insurance  against  accidental  injuries. 

Affidavits. 

All  agreements  or  contracts,  or  renewals  of  the  same. 

.     .     *       .  ,.  ,  c  -..1 


Appraisements,  of  value  or  damage,  or  for  any  other  purpose. 
Assignments  of  a  lease,  mortgage,  policy  of  insurance,  or  anything  else. 
Bills  of  Exchange,  foreign,  inland,  letters  of  credit,   or  anything  of  that 


kind   now 


taxed  by  stamps 


e       y  stamps. 

Bills  of  lading  and  receipts,  in  the  United  States  or  for  anywhere  els 

Bills  of  Sale,  of  any  kind. 

Bills  of  Indemnification,  of  any  kind, 

Bond  Administrator  or  guardian,  or  anything  that  has  the  name   of  bond  in    it,   and 
now  taxed  by  stamp. 

Broker's  notes. 

Certificates  of  Measurement  of  anything. 

Certificates  of  stock,  profit,  damage,  deposit  or  any  other  kind  of  certilicate  now  taxed 
by  stamp. 

Charter,  or  its  renewal,  or  a  charter-party  of  any  kind. 
•   Conveyance,  any  part  of  the  work  of  conveying. 

Endorsement  of  any  negotiable  or  not  negotiable  instrument. 

Entry^  for  consumption,  warehousing  or  withdrawal. 

Causer's  returns. 

Insurance  policies,  contracts,  tickets,  renewals,  &c.,  (life,  marine,  inland  and  lire). 

Lease.     All  through  the  lease  list  is  abolished. 

Legal  documents.     Writer  other  process,  confession  of  jugdment,  cognovit,  appeals, 
warrants,  &c.,  letters  of  administration,  testamentary,  A:c. 


APPENDIX. 


559 


Manifests  at  Custom  House,  or  anywhere  else,  or  for  any  purpose. 

Mortgage  of  any  kind.  Passage  ticket  to  any  place  in  the  world. 

Fawners    checks.  Pozver  of  attorney  for  any  purpose. 

Probate  of  7t»/V/pfany  kind.  Promissory  note  for  anything. 

Protest  of  any  kind.  Quit  claim  deed. 

Receipt.     Now  generally  exempt,  and  if  included  in  present  law  in  any  case,  will 

hereafter  exempt.  Sheriff's  return. 

Trust  deed.  Warehouse  receipt. 

Warrant  of  attorney.  Weigher's  return  of  any  character. 

THE    NATIONAL    DEBT. 

OFFICIAL    STATEMENT   OK   ITS    REDUCTION    UNDER    GRANT'S      ADMINISTRATION. 


Debt  of  the  U.  S 
less  cash  in  the 
Treasury 

.     Dec.   of  debt-    Total  Dec. 
during  the  pre-  from  March  i 
ceding  month,  i  1869,  to  date. 

Decrease    in 

,     annual  in- 
'terest  charge 

1869. 

March  i 

$2,525,463,260  01 
2,525,196,46!  74 
2,518,797,391  09 

2,505,412,613   12 
2,489,002,48.3  58 
2,481,566,736  29 
2,475,962,501   50 
2,468,495,072   II 
2,461,131,189  36 

2,453,559,735  23 

2,448,746,955  31 
2,444,813,288  92 
2,438,328,477  17 
2,432,562,127  74 
2,420,864,334  35 
2,406,562,371  78 
2,386,358,599  74 

2,355,921,11041 
2,346,923,652  28 
2,341,784,355  55 
2,334,308,494  65 

2,332,o67,793  75 
2,328,026,807  oo 
2,320,708,846  92 
2,309,697,596  27 

2,299,134,184  81 
2,292,030,834  90 
2,283,328,857  98 
2,274,122,560  38 
2,260,663,939  87 
2,251,713,448  03 
2,248,251,367  85 

2,243,838,411  14 
2,238,204,949  50 

l 

April  i  

$266,798  2 

6,399,070  6. 
13,384,777  9; 
16,410,132  54 
7,435,744  29 
5,604,234  75 
7,467,429  35 
7,363,882  75 
7,571,454  13 

4,812,781  92 
3,933,664  39 
6,484,811  75 

5  766,349  43 
11,697,793  39 
14,301,962  57 
20,203,772  04 
17,034,123  74 

13,403,325  59 
9,007,498  13 
5,129,296  73 
7,475,860  90 

2,240,700  90 
4,040,986  75 
7,317,96008 
11,011,250  65 
6,124,053  13 
4,439,358  33 
7,103,349  91 
8,701,976  92 
9,206,297  60 
13,458,620  51 
8,950,49!  84 
3,462,080  18 

4,412,956  71 
5,633,461  64 
12,391,451  52 
15,481,968  64 
12,588,088  62 
4,226,061  78 

$74,694  oo 
115,521  oo 
304.467  oo 
667,467  oo 

!     !,  786,725  00 

;  2,387,32500 

3,354.345  oo 
4,050,705  oo 
4,822,041  oo 

5,651,475  oo 

6,119,57400 

6,301,707  oo 
6,601,35000 
6,908,436  oo 
7,268,397  oo 
7,747,797  oo 
8,i33,954<» 
8,614,47000 
9.162,27000 
9,768,311  04 
10,155,576  96 

10,661,026  44 
11,064,916  44 
",537,46i  08 
12,062,997  96 
12,870,039  96 
13,489,202  04 
14.440,219  56 
14,761,404  oo 
14.950.164  48 
15.413,528  04 
16,368,108  96 
16,741,436  04 

17,165,927  52 
17,5^8,834  48 
18,203,915  04 
20,484,552  co 

21,472,08900 
22,002,519  oo 

May  i... 

5      $6,665,86892 

r        20,050,646  85 

36,460,779  43 
i      43,896,523  72 
49,500,758  51 
56,968,187  90 
1      64,332.070  65 
71,903,524  78 

76,716,306  70 
80,649,971  09 
87,134,782  84 
92,901,132  27 
104,598,925  66 
118,900,888  23 
139,104,660  27 
156,138,784  01 
169,542,109  60 
178,549,607  73 
183,678,904  46 
191.154,765  36 

193,395,466  26 

i97,436,4-3  OI 
204,754.413  09 
215,765,663  74 
221,889,716  87 
226,329,075   20 
233,432,425   ii 
242,134,402  03 
251,340,699  63 
264,7^9,320   14 
273,749,811  98 
277,211,892  16 

281,624,848  87 
287,258,310  51 

299,649,762     03; 

315,131,730  67, 
327,719,819  29; 
331,945,881  07 

June  i 

July  i  

August  i           . 

October  i  

1870. 
January  i  

February  i 

March  i 

April  i.   

May  i 

June  i  

July  i 

August  i  . 

September  i 

October  i 

November  i  

December  i 

L871. 

January  i 

February  i  

March  i.  . 

April  i 

May  i  

June  i         ..         ... 

August  i  -.  

September  i         .... 

October  i 

November  i  

December  i 

[872. 

February  i  

April  i 

2,210,331,529  34 
2,197,743,44072 

Mayi   

Total  Decrease,    9  months,  ending  Dec.  i,  1869 $  71,903, 524  78 

Total  Decrease,  12  months,  ending  Dec.  i,  1870 119,251,240  58 

Total  Decrease,  12  months,  ending  Dec.  i,  1871 86,057,126  80 

Total  Decrease,    6  months,  ending  June  i,  1872 52,733,9889* 

Total  Decrease,  39  months  of  Grant's  Administration $331,945,881  07 

The  foregoing  is  a  correct  statement  of  the  Public  Debt,  as  appears  from  the  books  and 
Treasurer's  returns  in  the  Department  at  the  close  of  business,  May  31,  1872. 

GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


560  THE    STRUGGLE    OF    '72. 

ELECTION  STATISTICS. 

ELECTORAL    VOTE    OF    1872. 

The  additions  authorized  by  the  new  apportionment  bill  passed  by  Congress  will  make 
the  House  of  Representatives  consist  of  292  members.  Adding  the  Senators  from  the 
thirty-seven  States,  there  will  be  an  electaral  college  of  366  members,  appointed  as 
follows: 

Alabama io    I     Missouri 15 

Arkansas 6    I     Nebraska 3« 

California - _  6    j     Nevada 3 

Connecticut 6         New  Hampshire 5 

Delaware 3     ;     New  Jersey 9 

Florida 4     j     New    York.. 35 

Georgia .. n     |     North  Carolina.. io 

Illinois . . 21     j     Ohio . 22 

Indiana 15    j     Oregon 3 

Pennsylvania.. 29 

Rhode  Island 4 

South  Carolina 7 

Tennessee is 


Iowa. 

Kansas 5 

Kentucky 12 

Lousiana...  ..  8 


Maine 


Maryland 8 

Massachusetts 13 

Michigan u 

Minnesota „ s 

Mississippi 


Total. 


Texas 8 

Vermont 5 

Virginia n 

West  Virginia 5 

Wisconsin- ..  ...io 


-366 


HOW    IT   STOOD   IN    1868. 

The  electoral  vote  of  1868  was  divided  as  follows  : 

FOR     GRANT. 

Alabama 8      ;    Missouri _ n 


Arkansas 5 

California 5 

Connecticut 6 

Florida 3 

Illinois 1 6 

Indiana 15 

Iowa 8 

Kansas 3 

Maine 7 

M  assachusetts 12 


Nebraska 


Michigan 

Minnesota 4 


Nevada 3 

New  Hampshire .... 5 

North  Carolina o 

Ohio 21 

Pennsylvania 26 

Rhode    Island 4 

South  Carolina 6 

Tennessee io 

Vermont 5 


West  Virginia 5 


Wisconsin. 


Total 214. 

FOR   SEYMOUR. 


L)elaware 3 

Georgia 9 

Kentucky n 

Lousiana 7 


Maryland 7 

New  Jersey 7 

New   York 33 

Oregon 3 


Total 80 

The  three  States  of  Mississippi,  Virginia,  and  Texas  were  not  in  a  condition  to  vote. 
The  popular  vote  amounted  that  year  to  about  5,700,000,  out  of  which  the  Republicans 
kad  a  majority  of  300,000. 

POPULAR    VOTE    IN    1868   AND    1870. 

The  following  table  shows  the  majorities  in  each  State  for  the  respective  candidates 
fcr  President  in  1868,  also  in  the  gubernatorial  or  other  State  election  nearest  to  November, 
1871.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  full  vote  is  never  got  out  except  in  Presidential 
years,  and  that  Republican  majorities  always  make  a  poor  showing  on  the  off  years : 

Rep.  maj.        Dem.  maj.         Rep.  maj.        Dem.  maj- 

States.  1868.  1868.  1870.  1870. 

Alabama 4,280  - 

Arkansas 3*074  

Caifornia 514  5,474 

Connecticut 3,054  

Delaware 3,357  103 

Honda 

Georgia 45,688  


APPENDIX. 


Rep.  maj. 
States.  1868. 

Illinois--.. 51,150 

Indiana 9,572 

Iowa 46,359 

Kansas 17,030 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 46,962 

(  Maine 28,030 

*  Maryland 

Massachusetts . 77,069 

Michigan 31,481 

Minnesota X5,47o 

Mississippi 

Missouri 25,883 

Nebraska 4,290 

Nevada r  ,262 

New   Hampshire 6,967 

New  Jersey 

New  York  .. 


North  Carolina.. 12,136 

Ohio 41,428 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 28,898 

Rhode  Island 6,445 

South  Carolina 17,064 

Tennessee 30,446 

Texas -- 

Vermont 32,122 

Virginia . 

West  Virginia 8,719 

Wisconsin 25,447 


Dem.  maj. 
1868. 


64,301 


31,918 


2,880 

10,000 


164 


Rep.  maj. 
1870. 
22,589 

41*254 


10,631 


24,049 


18,907 
20,168 
'4,575 


9,329 


Dem.  maj. 
1870. 


37,153 


151*35 


5,979 


24-279 


2,150 


Colored. 


Per  Ct.  Col. 


*  Six  candidates  in  the  field. 

t  Plurality.     Result  reversed  in  April,  1872. 

*J  Congressional  Election  of  1870. 

THE  NEGRO  VOTE. 

The  number  of  electors,  white  and  black,  in  the  eight  Southern  States  wherein  the 
colored  population  is  chiefly  gathered,  is  as  follows  : 
States. 

Virginia 712,089 

North  Carolina 678,470 

South  Carolina *84  667 

Georgia -    638,926 

Florida 96,057 

Alabama ---    5«i3»4 

Mississippi 382,896 

Lousiana 362,065 

Total --' 3,68i,554  3,241,057 

OTHER    NATIONALITIES. 

The  German  vote  is  estimated  in  four  States  as  follows  :  Pennsylvania, .32,029  ;  Ohio, 
*>s78-  Indiana  15611-  Illinois,  40,750;  total,  124,968.  The  heaviest  Irish  vote  is  in 
Pennsylvania,  140,625  ;  New  York,  88,134  ;  Illinois.  20,027  ;  and  New  Jersey,  14,164. 


415,814 
545,'42 
9i,689 

475,5™ 
444,201 
364,2™ 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 


STATE  GOVERNMENTS,  ELECTIONS,  &c. 


P'&i 


1P1I    Nf  II I 

E  •"  a  c  a    £«S  :   :   '   '      :   «  ?;-5  <«  ** 


•3  ?;.: 


Territories.  Capitals.  Governors. 

Alaska Sitka 

Arizona ..Tucson A.  P.  K.  Saflbrd. 

Colorado Denver Edward  M .  McCook . 

Dakota Yancton .J.  A.  Burbank. 

Idaho Boise Thomas.  W.  Bennett. 

Indian Tahlequah Cyrus  Harris. 

Montana Virginia  City Benjamin  F.  Potts. 

New  Mexico Santa  Fe .Marsh  Giddings. 

Utah Salt  Lake  City... ..George  L.  Woods. 

Washington Olympia Edward  S.  Salomon. 

Wyoming ..Cheyenne James  A.  Campbell. 

District  of  Columbia Washington Henry  D.  Coolie. 


AFTV.XDIX. 


563 


UNITED   STATES   GOVERNMENT. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  President .     Salary  $25  oo» 

Schuyler  Colfax,  Indiana,  Vice-President 8 '  > » 

Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  State Salary  $3/>  o 

George  S.  Boutwell,  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury... 

William  W.  Belknap,  of  Iowa,  Secretary  of  War 

George  M.  Robeson,  of  New  Jersey,  Secretary  of  the  Navy 

Columbus  Delano,  of  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  Interior 

George  H.  Williams,  of  Oregon,  Attorney-General '.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 

John  A.  J.  Creswell,  of  Maryland,  Postmaster-General... 


8,000 
8,»x» 
8,cx» 
8,000 


SUPREME   COURT   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,   Chief  Justice Salary  $8,500 

Samuel  Nelson,  of  N,  Y.,  Associate  Justice.  \    David  Davis,  of  Illinois,  Associate  Justice. 
Nathan  Clifford,  of  Maine,         "          "  |     Stephen  T.  Field,  of  Cal. 

Noah  H.  Swayne,  of  Ohio,         "  "  \\'il!i;;m  M.  Strong,  of  Pa.          " 

Samuel  F.  Miller,  of  Iowa,         "  u  [    Joseph  P.  Bradley,  of  N.  J.,      " 

Salary  of  Associate  Justices,  $8,000.     Court  meets  first  Monday  in  December,  at   Wash 
ington. 

MINISTERS    TO    FOREIGN    COUNTRIES. 

Country.  Capital  Ministers.  Salary. Appointed. 

Austria  ..       Vienna. John  Jay,  N.  Y. ...$12,000.. .  1868 

Brazil ...Rio  Janerio James  R.  Partridge,  Md 12,000. ..  1871 

Chili... Santiago Joseph  P.  Root,  Kansas 10,000. .  .1869 

China ...Pekin Frederick  F.  Low,  Cal 12,000. ..1860 

France Paris Elihu  B.  Washburne,  111 17, 500. ..1869 

Great  Britain London Robert  C.  Schenck,  Ohio 17. 500...  1870 

Italy Florence George  P.  Marsh,  Vt 12,000..  .1861 

Mexico Mexico Thomas  H.  Nelson,  Ind 12,030.. .1869 

Peru Lima io,ooo...i87i 

Germany ...Berlin George  Bancroft,  Mass 17, 500.. .1867 

Russia St.  Petersburg Andrew  G.  Curtin,  Penn 12,000 1869 

Spain Madrid Daniel  E.  Sickles,  N.  Y 12,000. ..1869 

Argentine  Republic Buenos  Ayres 7,500. ..  1869 

Belgium .Brussels J.  R.  Jones,  111 7i5°o 1869 

Bolivia Cochabamba Leopold  Markbreit,  Ohio 7,500. ..1869 

Costa  Rica San  Jose ..Jacob  B.  Blair,  W.  Va 7,500. ..1868 

Denmark Copenhagen ..M.  J.  Cramer,  Ky 7,500.. .1870 

Ecuador Quito E.  Rumsey  Wing,  Ky 7,500.  ..1870 

Guatemala Guatemala S.  A.  Hudson,  Iowa 7,500. ..1869 

Hawaiian  Islands Honolulu ...Henry  A.  Pierce,  Mass 7,500. ..1869 

Honduras Comayagua Henry  Baxter,  Mich 7.500. . .  1869 

Japan Yedo C.  E.  Delong,  Oregon 12,000. ..1869 

Netherlands Hague Chas.  T.  Gorham,  Mich 7,500...  1870 

Nicaragua Nicaragua Charles  N.  Riotte,  Texas 7,500.  ..1869 

Paraguay Asuncion See  Uruguay. 7,500... 

Portugal Lisbon Chas.  H.  Lewis,  Va .  7,500. ..1870 

San  Salvador San  Salvador Thomas  Biddle,  Penn 7,500...  1869 

Sweden  and  Norway         Stockholm C.  C.  Andrews,  Mass 7,500.. .1869 

Switzerland Berne.... Horace  Rublee,  Wis 7,500. ..1869 

Turkey            Constantinople George  H.  Boker,  Penn 7,500. ..1870 

Uruguay  and  Paraguay. Montevideo John  L.  Stephens,  Me 11,250. ..1871 

U.S.  of  Colombia Bogota S.  A.  Hurlburt,  111 .  7,500. ..1869 

Venezuela Caracas William  A.  Pile,  Mo 7,500. ..1869 

Hayti                                   Port-au-Prince E.  D.  Basset,  Pa 7,500.  ..1869 

Liberia Monruvia ...J.  Milton  Turner 4,000. ..1871 

DEPARTMENT   AND    BUREAU    OFFICERS. 

Assistant  Secretary  of  State, 

Second  Assistant 

Assistant  Secretary  of  ^  the  Treasury, ^ 

First  Comptroller V.V.V.V.V.V-V."-  "-Robert  ^--,-; 

Second                        ~        '  w   T    Hain^ 

Commissioner  of  Customs, T  h      A Ukc 

Register  of  the  Treasury, '"^":J  \V    Mahon 

Fir»t  Auditor, "a          „;  French; 

Tejc.™d     k.  - ' ; ""/.".".".".Allen  Rutherford. 


564 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     7 


jonn   n,aton,  jr. 

.jas.  W.  Marshall. 
.John  L.  Routeral, 
.W.  H.  H.  Terrell. 


Founh  Auditor  ........................  ..  ...................  ______  Stephen  J.  W.  Tabor. 

Fifth         "         .....  .  .............................  _____  ............  ...:T......J.   H.  Ela. 

Sixth  .  .........  -.  .............  .  ................  ____  ..............  -J-  J-  Martin. 

Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  _____  ..............  ___________  _•__  .....  Francis  E.  Spinner. 

Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  .............  ________  .......  .  ................  H.  R.   Hulbird  . 

Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  .............  ______  ............  ______  J.  W.  Douglass. 

General  of  the  Army,  ---------  ..........................  _____  ...........  W.  T.  Sherman  . 

Adjutant  General,  ..........  ---------  ..................................  E.  D.  Townsend. 

Inspector  General,  ..........  -----  ..............  .  .............  .  .Col.  Randolph  B  .   Marcy  . 

Quartermaster  General,  ......  ______  .........  .  ...............  ____  -Montgomery  O.   Meigs. 

Commissioner  General,  ______  .....................  --  ........  _____________  Amos  B.  Eaton- 

Surgeon  General,  ________  .......  .         .................................  Joseph  K.   Barnes. 

Judge  Advocate  General,  ................  ________________  ................  ___  Joseph  Holt. 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  .................................  Benjamin  R.  Cowen. 

Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office,  .....................  .  .  ..............  Willis  Drummond  . 

Commisssioner  of  Pensions,  _________  .......  ______  ......  ____  ................  J.  H.  Baker. 

Patents,  ...............................................  M.  D.   Leggett  . 

Indian  Affairs,  .  .  ...............................  ____  Fiancis  A.  Walker. 

Education  ,  --------  ..................  .  ......  _________  _  .  John  Eaton  ,  j  r  . 

First  Assistant  Postmaster  Genl.,  .........  .  ......  .  ......  .  ....... 

Second     "  "  " 

Third       "  "  •'         ....  ...................  .  ......  . 

Assistant  Attorney  General,  ........  ..  ..................  .  ...............  Clement  H.  Hill. 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  ____  .......  __________________________  ......  Frederick  Watts. 

Public  Buildings.  .......................................  _O.  E.  Babcock. 

Chief  Justice  U.  S.  Gourt  of  Claims  ..........  .  ......................  ..Charles  D.  Drake. 

SENATORS  TO  BE   REPLACED. 

The  terms  of  Spencer  of  Alabama,  Rice  of  Arkansas,  Cole  of  California,  Ferry  of  Con. 
necticut,  Osborn  of  Florida,  Hill  of  Georgia,  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  Morton  of  Indiana, 
Harlan  of  Iowa,  Pomeroy  of  Kansas,  Davis  of  Kentucky,  Kellogg  of  Louisiana,  Vickers  of 
Maryland,  Blair  of  Missouri,  Nye  of  Nevada,  Patterson  of  New  Hampshire,  Conkling  of 
New  York,  Pool  of  North  Carolina,  Sherman  of  Ohio,  Corbett  of  Oregon,  Cameron  of 
Pennsylvania,  Sawyer  of  South  Carolina.  Morrill  of  Vermont,  and  Howe  of  Wisconsin,  all 
expire  on  the  4th  of  March,  1872.  All  of  these  are  yet  to  be  chosen  except  John  Sherman 
of  Ohio,  who  has  been  already  re-elected.  The  United  States  Senate  now  stands;  Demo 
crats  17  ;  Republicans  57.  Of  the  retiring  members,  21  are  Republican,  and  three  are  Dem 
ocrats. 

PRESIDENTIAL   TICKETS. 

The  following  is  a  full  list  of  the  various  tickets  placed  in  nomination,  or  likely  to  be,  up 
to  the  time  of  putting  this  book  to  press  : 

For  President.  For  l-rice  President. 

1.  Republican,  .  .  ...........  Ulysses  S.  Grant  ...........  Henry  Wilson  .................  . 

2.  Democratic  and  Bolters,..  Horace   Greeley  ............  B.  Gratz  Brown  ................ 

3.  Labor  Reform,  ______  .....  David   Davis  ...............  Joel  Parker  .........  _____  ....... 

4.  Temperance,  ____________  James    Black  -------  ........  James  Russell  ......  ____  ..  ______ 

5.  Revenue  Reform,  ________  Wm.  S.  Groesbeck  .......  ...Fred  Law  Olmsted  _____  ......  .. 

6.  Anti  Masonic,  ___________  Chas.  Francis  Adams  _______  J.I/.  Barlow*  .........  _________ 

j)  Free   Love,  ..............  Victoria  Woodhull...  .......  Frederic  Douglass  ...........  ... 

Of  these  the  third  and  fifth  are  aleady  out  of  the  field,  while  the  seventh  is  not  of  any 
moment  —  the  candidate  for  Vice  President,  very  justly  deeming  the  gathering  which  nom-f 
inated  him,  too  trivial  an  affair  even  to  bestow  a  letter  of  declination  upon.  The  conven 
tion  of  Labor  Reformers  was  held  at  Columbus,  O.,  on  the  22nd  of  February.  It  was  thought 
at  first  that  this  nomination  by  the  ostensible  representatives  of  the  Labor  interest,  could  be 


dent  that  the  nominations  at  Columbus  would  not  be  endorsed  by  any  body  representing  a 
more  numerous  constituency,  both  the  candidates  formally  withdrew.  (It  should  be  men. 
tioned  that  the  Workingmen's  Union  of  New  York,  representing  a  larger  actual  constitu 
ency  than  the  Cincinnati  gathering,  nominated  Grant  and  Wilson  about  a  fortnight  before 
the  assembling  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention.) 

*Vice  Chas.  H.  Howard,  declined.     Mr.  Adams   (said  to  be  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,)  has 
paid  no  attention  to  this  nomination. 


APPENDIX.  565 


SUMNER  REBUKED  BY  A  FELLOW-ABOLITIONIST. 

William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the  noted  anti-slavery  pioneer,  has  sent  the  following  letter  to 
Senator  Sumner  : 


June  i,  1872. 

DEAR  MR.  SUMNER  —  I  owe  it  to  you  to  say,  with  all  the  frankness  which  a  sincere 
friendship  justifies,  that  1  have  carefully  read  your  speech  in  sharp  arraignment  of  the 
President,  and  my  conviction  is  that  it  is  ill  judged,  ill-timed  and  so  extravagant  in  its 
charges  and  bitter  in  its  personalities  as  to  neutralize  whatever  of  just  criticism  can  be 
found  in  it.  It  will  assuredly  serve  the  purposes  of  the  worst  foes  the  cause  of  impartial 
freedom  has  most  to  fear,  very  many  of  them  now  rallying  under  the  deceptive  banner  of 
"  Liberal  Republicanism,"  but  the  loyal,  liberty-upholding  party  with  which  you  have 
hitherto  been  proud  to  be  identified  will  peruse  it  with  deep  regret,  if  not  with  unfeigned 
astonishment.  Certainly  you  do  not  represent  Massachusetts  in  this  sweeping  impeach 
ment.  Her  Republican  people  are  almost  a  unit  for  the  re-election  of  the  man  whom  you 
attempt  to  stain  with  crime  and  cover  with  infamy. 

You  cannot  separate  General  Grant  from  the  party  which  put  him  in  the  Presidential 
chair,  and  which  means  to  keep  him  in  it,  if  possible,  another  term,  being  satisfied  as  to 
his  ability,  integrity  and  patriotism  ;  and  therefore  in  stigmatizing  him  as  a  venal  self- 
seeker  and  an  unscrupulous  usurper  you  virtually  pronounce  it  to  be  equally  corrupt  and 
untrustworthy.  This  you  have  a  right  to  do  on  your  own  responsibility  if  you  must,  but 
in  so  doing  you  will  find  yourself  for  the  first  time  in  marked  opposition  to  the  sentiment 
of  Massachusetts,  as  its  Senator  in  Congress,  and  surrounded  by  allies  who  have  been 
heretofore  your  deadliest  enemies.  Occupying,  as  I  do,  an  outside  position,  I  write  this 
under  no  party  bias,  and  only  because  I  feel  constrained  in  this  manner  to  free  my  mind 
as  a  proof  of  my  friendship.  Receive  it  in  the  spirit  which  has  dictated  it. 
Faithfully  and  regretfully  yours, 

WILLIAM    LLOYD  GARRISON. 

OREELEY'S  INTRIGUES  WITH  THE  DEMOCRACY. 

The  Cincinnati  Nomination  the  Result  of  a  Plot  to  which  Greeley  and  Horatio  Seymour 
were  Parties,  Extending  Back  Nearly  a  Year. 

The  following  are  the  essential  facts  of  an  intrigue  whereof  Horace  Greeley,  Horatio 
Seymour,  Waldo  Hutchins  and  Lewis  Carmichael  were  the  principal  agents,  and  which 
resulted  in  a  bargain  between  Greeley  and  the  Democratic  party  of  New  York,  for  mutual 
support  in  the  present  campaign.  The  particulars,  as  related  by  Carmichael  to  the  editor 
of  the  Binghampton  Republican,  are  certified  to  by  many  persons  of  unquestioned  ver 
acity  and  by  the  affidavits  of  two  such,  which  are  appended  hereto. 

CARMICHAEL'S  STATEMENT. 

Lewis  Carmichael  is  a  farmer,  probably  between  50  and  55  years  of  age,  who  owns  and 
resides  upon  a  tract  of  240  acres  of  improved  land,  two  miles  west  of  the  village  of  Una- 
dilla,  in  Otsego  county.  For  over  twenty  years  he  has  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a 
politician  of  influence  and  sagacity,  and  was  consulted  in  times  of  important  political 
movements  by  Dickinson  and  other  eminent  men. 

Carmichael  wrote  to  Mr.  Greeley,  last  September,  giving  him  his  view  about  the  then 
coming  presidential  campaign,  and  inviting  Greeley  to  become  a  candidate.  Carmichael's 
letter  was  addressed  inside  to  "  Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  the  next  President  of  the  United 
States."  Carmichael  told  Mr.  Greeley  that  the  time  had  come  to  *k  raft  over."  and  he 
thought  the  Democratic  leaders  would  drop  old  issues  and  support  him. 

Mr.  Greeley  answered  this  letter  in  a  short  time.  He  expressed  [then  or  afterward  —  the 
writer  is  not  certain  as  to  time  here]  his  willingness  to  become  a  candidate,  but  was  fear 
ful  that  the  Democratic  leaders  would  not  support  him.  A  letter  from  him  invited  Car 
michael  to  an  interview  with  him. 

Carmichael  said  he  went  down  to  New  York  soon  after  receiving  that  letter,  and  had 
a  long  talk  with  Greeley  in  the  Tribune  office.  Greeley  told  Carmichael  that  Horatio 
Seymour  was  a  standing  candidate  with  the  Democratic  party,  and  that  Mr.  Seymour 
would  not  step  aside  for  him.  Carmichael  answered  that  he  could  not  tell  about  that, 
as  Governor  Seymour  had  not  been  asked,  and  had  not  said  what  he  would  do.  Car 
michael  then  offered  to  undertake  to  secure  Seymour's  consent  and  co-operation  to  the 
movement,  and  Mr.  Greeley  agreed  to  be  a  candidate  provided  he  succeeded  with  Mr. 
Seymour  and  other  prominent  Democrats. 

Within  a  short  time  after  the  interview  with  Greeley,  Carmichael  saw  Governor  Sey 
mour.  He  was  not  inclined  to  receive  the  proposition  with  much  favor.  Carmichael  gave 
him  his  views,  and  left  him  to  think  the  matter  over.  At  that  time  Seymour  thought  that 
perhaps  Hutchins  could  be  agreed  upon  as  a  candidate. 

It  was  not  long  before  Carmichael  saw  Seymour  again,  by  appointment,  and  he  said  he 
had  made  up  his  mind  that  Carmichael  was  right,  and  thsK  the  Democrats  could  support 
Greeley  ;  or  if  a  portion  of  the  Republican  party  preferred  making  a  change  in  the  ad 
ministration,  the  Democrats  should  not  take  advantage  of  the  movement. 


500  THE    STRUGGLE    OF     7 2. 

Carmichael  informed  Mr.  Greeley,  as  soon  as  convenient,  of  his  success  with  Governor 
Seymour ;  and  went  about  the  State,  immediately,  to  consult  the  Democratic  leaders. 
The  proposition  met  with  very  strong  opposition,  but  the  fact  that  it  was  about  the  only 
thing  they  could  do,  convinced  the  party  leaders  that  they  had  better  do  it.  If  they  should 
elect  a  prominent  man  from  their  ranks  he  would  have  political  associations,  and  friends 
that  he  could  not  help  serving,  and  they  could  not  get  such  an  administration  as  they 
could  by  taking  up  a  man  with  no  former  political  associations  he  would  be  under  obli 
gations  to  recognize.  The  leaders  of  both  parties  are  corrupt.  Such  Democratic  leaders 
as  Belmont,  Marble  and  others,  have  been  making  money  and  political  capital  out  of  our 
following,  and  the  party  has  continually  lost.  Three  millions  of  Democratic  votes  had  be 
come  useless  for  want  of  proper  management  of  them,  and  we  thought  it  was  time  to  turn 
the  tables  and  compel  the  leaders  to  follow  for  a  while. 

In  1860  we  might  have  elected  Houston,  if  we  had  nominated  him,  over  Lincoln,  be 
cause  Houston  claimed  that  the  territories  were  the  common  property  of  all  the  States, 
and  the  Democrats  all  over  the  United  States  could  have  united  on  that  principle.  In 
1864  we  could  have  elected  Reverdy  Johnson  over  Lincoln.  And  in  1868  we  could  have 
elected  Chase  over  Grant.  We  had  fooled  away  so  many  opportunities  that  we  concluded 
it  was  best  to  drop  some  of  the  old,  unpopular  doctrines  this  fall  and  come  out  in  shape  to 
succeed. 

Carmichael  refused  to  show  any  letters,  alleging  that  he  had  already  shown  letters  to 
the  editor  of  this  paper.  He  said  he  did  not  understand  Mr.  Greeley  as  desiring  there 
should  be  secrecy  about  the  movement.  [Precisely  how  he  desired  to  be  understood  .here, 
is  uncertain.]  The  first  plan,  Carmichael  said,  was  to  call  a  convention  in  Otsego  county 
to  nominate  Mr.  Greeley,  and  start  the  campaign  in  that  manner. 

Last  April  Mr.  Greeley,  true  to  his  usual  vacillating  habit,  wrote  to  Carmichael  saying 
that  he  believed  the  Democrats  preferred  a  candidate  from  their  own  ranks,  and  would  not 
unite  in  his  support ;  therefore  he  desired  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  canvass.  But  Car 
michael  prevailed  upon  him  to  stick  to  it  until  they  knew  what  the  Democratic  leaders 
would  do.  It  was  not  best  to  back  down  before  they  had  time  to  work  the  thing  up. 

AFFIDAVIT   OF   C.    S.    CARI'EXTER. 

[Of  Mr.  Carpenter,  who  makes  the  following  affidavit,  the  Binghampton  Republican 
says  "  he  is  a  young  man  of  unusual  ability,  and  probity  ;  was  reared  in  Unadilla  ;  is  re 
spected  by  all  who  know  him  :  and  he  is  widely  known.  As  the  editor  of  the  Oneonta 
Herald,  one  of  the  best  and  most  trustworthy  weekly  journals  of  the  State,  he  is  highly 
esteemed.  With  his  own  readers,  no  certification  could  be  stronger  than  his  owu  word."] 

ONEONTA,  July  17,  1872. 

C.  S.  Carpenter,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  a  resident  of  Oneonta, 
Otsego  county,  in  the  Sate  of  New  York,  and  that  he  is  well  acquainted  with  Lewis  Car- 
michaei,  of  Unadilla,  in  said  county.  That  Carmichael  has  for  many  years  been  a  Demo 
crat,  interested  in  county,  State  and  national  conventions,  which  he  frequently  at 
tended ;  and  that  he  has  for  about  a  year  past  been  engaged  in  seeking  a  Denrocratic 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  That  Carmichael  was  last  fall  in  correspondence  with 
Horace  Greelev  and  Horatio  Seymour,  on  the  question  of  making  new  issues;  one  of 
which  was  the  payment  of  pensions  to  disabled  rebel  soldiers,  as  well  as  to  Union  sol 
diers  ;  and  that  deponent  saw  letters  from  said  Greeley  and  from  Seymour,  on  that  ques 
tion.  That  one  of  Greeley's  letters,  which  deponent  recognized  by  what  he  knows  of 
Greeley's  handwriting,  and  by  the  Tribune  heading  (this  letter  being  an  answer  to  a  let 
ter  of  Carmichael,  asking  his  views  on  the  Confederate  pension  question),  expressed  the 
views  of  Mr.  Greeley  as  favorable  to  the  passage  of  a  law  providing  that  the  general 
government  pay  pensions  to  Southern  disabled  soldiers  ;  although  he  (Greeley)  doubted 
whether  Congress  would  pass  such  a  bill.  That  deponent  read  the  letter  carefully,  and 
this  was  its  true  expression  and  meaning  ;  and  it  was  freely  discussed  between  Car 
michael  and  deponent.  That  this  letter  was,  according  to  deponent's  best  recollection, 
dated  in  August  or  early  in  September,  1871.  Deponent  saw  a  letter  from  Horatio  Sey 
mour  on  the  same  subject,  at  about  the  same  time.  Mr.  Seymour  expressed  himself  in 
opposition  to  making  the  pension  an  issue  then. 

That  deponent  also  saw  another  letter  of  Horace  Greeley,  addressed  to  Carmichael,  in 
which  Greeley  invited  Carmichael  to  call  on  him  in  New  York,  to  talk  over  political 
issues  that  had  been  broached  between  them  ;  and  a  separate  part  of  that  letter,  which  de 
ponent  did  not  have  opportunity  of  reading  carefully,  expressed,  as  deponent  casually 
noticed,  and  was  distinctly  informed  by  Carmichael,  the  possibility  that  Greclcy^vonld 
accept  the  nomination  for  president,  if  the  nomination  were  tendered  to  him  in  1872. 
That  Carmichael  was  absent  from  Otsego  shortly  aftersvard,  and  received  from  Greeley, 
as  Carmichael  distinctly  and  emphatically  stated  to  him,  Mr.  Gn-eley's positive  consent  to 
be  the  Democratic  candidate  for  president  in  1872,  if  the  nomination  were  given  to  him. 
The  date  of  this  letter  was  in  October,  1871. 

That  Carmichael  endeavored  to  induce  deponent  to  consent  to  advocate  paying  pensions 
to  Southern  soldiers,  as  a  measure  of  conciliation  between  North  and  South,  and  to  sup 
port  Mr.  Greeley  for  the  presidency. 

That  it  was  fully  understood  between  deponent  and  Carmichael  that  Greeley  was  to  be 
pressed  for  Democratic  nomination.  That  deponent  regarded  Carmichael  as  a  candid  man 


APPENDIX.  567 

who  treated  these  subjects  with  the  utmost  seriousness ;  and  that  deponent  is  fully  con 
vinced  that  this  correspondence  and  interviews,  and  their  meaning  and  results,  were  de 
scribed  by  him  honestly  and  faithfully. 

C.  S.  CARPENTER. 


Sworn  before  me  this  i7th  day  of  July,  1872. 
E.  M.  CARVER,  Notary  Pi 


tary  Public. 

Dr.  Ireland,  who  makes  the  other  affidavit,  is  a  citizen  of  high  character  ;  enjoys  the 
esteem  of  everybody  ;  and  by  the  clearness  and  very  essential  importance  of  his  affidavit, 
contributes  much  to  the  completeness  of  the  case.  He,  with  Mr.  Carpenter,  was  averse  to 
personal  prominence  in  the  matter ;  but  a  sense  of  duty  admitted  of  no  other  course  than 
that  they  have  pursued. 

AFFIDAVIT   OF    DR.    IRELAND. 

Loiiis  E.  Ireland,  of  Unadilla,  Otsego  county,  New  York,  being  sworn,  says  that  Lewis 
Carmichael,  also  of  Unadilla,  whom  he  has  known  for  six  years,  has  frequently  been  in 
deponent's  office  in  Unadilla,  and  has  shown  deponent  letters  from  Horace  Greeley,  of 
New  York,  five  or  six  in  number ;  and  one  letter  of  Horatio  Seymour  ;  that  deponent  did 
not  readily  read  Greeley's  letters,  except  the  heading  and  signature — Carmichael's  being 
addressed  as  u  Friend  Carmichael"  in  one  or  more  of  them— which  letters  deponent  held 
in  his  hand.  Their  contents  related  to  matters  understood  between  Carmichael  and  Gree 
ley,  some  of  the  letters  passing  on  as  though  connected  with  previous  business  ;  and  one 
of  the  letters  invited  Carmichael  to  go  to  Cincinnati.  These  letters  were  shown  to  de 
ponent  in  the  last  of  March  or  first  of  April,  1872.  Carmichael  then  said  to  deponent  that 
Greeley  would  be  nominated  at  Cincinnati,  and  the  Democrats  would  adopt  him  ;  that 
the  only  point  there  was,  that  Greeley  should  get  the  Cincinnati  nomination.  Depo 
nent  perused  Horatio  Seymour's  letter,  which  he  read  easily,  and  recognized  the  hand 
writing,  according  to  his  previous  knowledge  of  it,  as  Seymour's.  The  suojects  of  that  let 
ter  were  as  follows:  It  mentioned  an  interview  of  Carmichael  and  Seymour,  and  an  in 
ter-view  of  Carmichael  and  Greeley;  saying  he  (Seymour)  was  more  favorably  im 
pressed with  the  turn  of  matters,  with  which  he  seemed  satisfied;  mentioned  the  tariff 
question,  and  said  the  best  way  was  to  leave  the  issue  a  -vague  one,  as  Carmichael  kad 
Proposed,  so  as  to  unite  persons  of  different  views  in  the  coalition  movement ;  suggested 
that  if  Greeley  favored  this,  it  would  smooth  the  way  to  the  end.  Deponent's  strong  im 
pression  is  that  Greeley's  candidacy  was  mentioned  ;  but  of  that  he  does  not  say  positively. 
The  time  when  this  letter  was  read  by  deponent  was  about  the  last  of  March  or  first  of 
April,  1872. 

The  subject  had  previously  been  brought  to  deponent's  attention  by  Carmichael ;  but 
when  the  letters  were  shown,  particularly  Greeley  s  letters,  deponent  thought  the  matter 
too  absurd  to  notice ;  but  after  the  Cincinnati  nomination  he  understood  their  import 
ance,  and  endeavored  to  procure  copies.  He  would  have  exposed  the  matter,  except  that 
he  had  hopes  of  procuriug  the  letters  or  copies  of  them. 

Deponent  was  informed  in  December,  1871,  from  the  statement  of  Carmichael,  that 
Greeley  had  promised  Carmichael  the  tone  of  the  Tribune  would  be  changed  about  the 
first  of  the  year  1872  ;  and  the  deponent,  on  noticing,  saw  the  change — which  statement  of 
Carmichael  deponent  can  prove  on  competent  testimony  of  a  public  officer. 

Deponent  further  remembers  that  in  one  of  Greeley  s  letters,  Chase  was  mentioned  as 
now  feeble  and  broken  down. 

Deponent  makes  this  statement  on  his  honor  as  a  citizen,  and  because  he  believes  the 
facts  he  has  mentioned  should  be  exposed. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  this  i7th  day  of  July,  1872. 

FREDERICK  A.  SANDS, 

Notary  Public  of  Otsego  county,  N.  V. 

THE  TWO  CHARGES  AGAINST  PRESIDENT  GRANT. 

[From  Senator  Conkling's  Speech  at  New  York,  July  23,  1872.] 

GIFT    TAKING. 

But  let  us  go  back  a  moment  to  Grant  before  he  seriously  thought  of  being  President 
and  when  he  was  only  the  idol  of  the  nation.  Returning  from  the  field  covered  with  glory, 
but  poor  in  money,  the  affluent,  whose  fortunes  he  had  saved,  met  him  with  munificent  offer 
ings  In  this  they  followed  the  customs  of  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  austere  re 
publics  of  antiquity  enriched  and  ennobled  their  heroes  returning  from  victory.  England, 
with  an  unwritten  constitution  and  an  omnipotent  Parliament,  which  a  lawyer  once  said 
"  could  do  anything  but  to  make  a  man  a  woman,"  has  enriched  her  Generals  both  by  acts 
of  Parliament  and  by  voluntary  subscriptions.  In  the  United  States  the  constitution  does 
not  permit  Congress  to  act  in  such  matters.  Here  they  rest  wholly  in  the  voluntary  action 
of  individuals,  and  that  public  presentations  to  heroes  involved  turpitude  in  givers  or 
recipients  has  been  first  found  out  by  the  spurious  reformers  and  libellers  now  clamoring 
for  notice.  Wellington  received  from  his  government  and  his  neighbors  more  than  three 
million  dollars.  British  citizens  of  Calcutta  made  him  presents,  the  officers  of  the  army 


568 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     72. 


gave  him  $10,000,  the  House  of  Commons  voted  him  $1,000,000,  and  a  mansion  and  estate 
were  purchased  for  him  by  subscription,  at  a  cost  of  $1,300,000.  Besides  this  he  was  three 
times  ennobled,  twice  by  England  and  once  uy  Spain.  Oliver  Cromwell,  for  deeds  done  in 
civil  war,  received  $32,500  a  year  in  gifts.  Marlborough  was  given  a  stately  palace  and  a 
splendid  fortune.  Nelson  and  his  family  were  ennobled  and  received  $70,000.  Jewels  and 
money  were  given  to  Fairfax  for  services  in  civil  war.  The  generals  and  admirals  of  Eng 
land  and  France  have  generally  been  recipients  of  great  pecuniary  benefits.  In  England 
and  elsewhere  the  custom  of  presents  to  public  men  has  gone  beyond  the  army  and  the 
navy.  Richard  Cobden,  a  civilian,  in  token  of  political  service  only,  was  given  by  sub 
scription  $350,000.  John  Bright  has  just  received  costly  gifts.  America,  younger  and 
poorer,  with  few  wars  to  breed  heroes,  has  been  less  lavish  than  older  nations  ;  but  Ameri 
cans  have  not  been  stingy.  General  McClellan,  perhaps,  begins  the  list  of  largely  reward 
ed  generals.  His  active  service  ended  before  the  war  was  over,  and  his  democratic  admi 
rers,  prior  to  nominating  him  for  the  Presidency,  presented  him  a  costly  house  and  a  large 
purse,  amounting  in  all  to  $100,000.  To  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Farragut  and  Grant  large 
sums  were  given.  To  Stanton's  family  and  to  Rawlins'  were  given  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  each.  Were  these  things  dishonorable?  Was  it  wrong  for  General  Grant  to  accept 
such  gifts  ?  The  charge  is  an  insult  to  the  nation  who  witnessed  and  applauded  the  proceed 
ing  ;  it  is  an  imputation  upon  those  who  gave,  as  much  as  upon  him  who  received.  It  can 
not  have  been  dishonorable  or  improper  for  him  to  accept  a  gift  without  being  dishonorable 
and  improper  to  offer  it.  How  must  the  cant  and  snivel  we  hear  seem  to  the  people  of 
Germany  just  now.  Bismarck,  though  Chancellor  and  Prime  Minister,  has  just  received 
as  a  gift,  in  token  of  his  services  in  the  recent  war,  a  magnificent  landed  estate,  worth 
more  than  was  given  to  all  our  generals  ;  and  Bismarck  in  like  token,  has  been  made  a 
Prince.  General  Von  Moltke,  for  his  services  in  the  German-Franco  war,  has  been  given 
$300,000 ;  and  Germany  has  set  apart  from  the  French  indemnity  fund  $4.000,000  to  be 
distributed  in  gifts  to  her  heroes.  Do  you  believe  any  German,  or  any  man  with  a  German 
heart  in  his  bosom,  will  ever  be  me:  n  enough  to  throw  these  gifts  in  the  face  of  those  who 
earned  and  accepted  them  ?  If  there  is  a  man  mean  enough  to  do  it  he  will  be  safer  in  the 
Greeley  menagerie  than  he  would  be  in  any  hiding  place  in  Germany.  Yet  gift-taking, 
forsooth,  is  paraded  by  political  Pharisees.  One  thing  is  noticeable : —  The  men  who 
screech  about  gift-taking  are  those  who  never  gave  a  cent,  and  who  were  never  openly 
offered  a  cent — certainly  not  for  any  honorable  service  rendered  to  their  country.  The 
charge  that  Grant  accepted  any  gift  after  he  became  President,  or  after  he  was  nomin 
ated,  is  wholly  false.  He  has  accepted  nothing  of  value  since  his  first  nomination — not 
even  a  carriage  and  horses — although  Lincoln,  and  Buchanan,  and  Pierce,  and  Taylor, 
and  other  Presidents,  did  accept  carriages  and  horses  after  their  election. 

NEPOTISM. 

Let  me  go  on  with  the  charges  asainst  the  President.  Few  of  them  figure  more  largely 
than  appointing  relatives  to  office.  Mr.  Sumner  has  staggered  the  nation  by  the  weight  of 
the  dictionaries,  encyclopaedias  and  other  big  books  which  he  has  dumped  upon  us,  to 
show  what  "  nepotism"  is.  He  finds  it  charged  that  Popes  had  children,  and  called  them 
nephews,  and  lavished  upon  them  the  moneys  of  the  Church  ;  and  he  thinks  that  where  a 
public  office  is  to  be  filled  and  a  good  man  is  appointed  at  the  same  pay  any  other  man 
would  receive,  a  case  has  occurred  like  that  of  the  Popes,  provided  the  man  who  makes  the 
appointment  and  the  man  who  gets,  it  are  related  to  each  other.  This,  if  not  a  useful,  is  a 
wonderful  discovery. 

From  the  morning  of  time  common  sense  has  distinguished  between  creating  a  useless 
and  lucrative  sinecure  and  bestowing  it  on  a  relative,  and  selecting  a  relative  to  do  a  service 
required  to  be  done.  When  Hannibal  and  Frederick  the  Great  and  Napoleon  and  Em 
peror  William  put  a  brother  or  a  son  at  the  head  of  an  army,  with  rank  and  titles,  or  even 
placed  him  on  a  throne,  the  world  never  thought  it  was  like  a  sinecure  for  a  Papal  nephew. 
On  the  contrary,  in  public  and  private  business,  nothing  has  seemed  more  natural  than  for 
those  entrusted  with  affairs  to  employ  and  associate  with  themselves  persons  in  whom  they 
most  confided,  whether  relatives  or  not.  In  all  such  cases,  if  the  person  be  fit,  little  harm 
can  be  done  ;  but  if  he  is  unfit,  a  great  wrong  is  done,  whether  he  be  a  relative  or  not.  If 
the  appointment  of  relatives  be  a  crime,  a  great  many  men,  including  the  busiest  and  most 
blatant  "  liberals,"  must  be  great  criminals.  Andrew  Johnson,  his  Cabinet  and  chief  of 
ficers  must  have  been  huge  offenders,  for  reasons  which  no  one  thought  of  at  the  time 
though  every  one  knew  of  them.  President  Johnson's  son  was  his  chief  Private  Secretary. 
Governor  Seward's  son  was  Assistant  Secretary  of  State.  Edwin  M.  Stanton's  son  was  a 
clerk  in  the  War  Department.  Giddeon  Welles'  son  was  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Navy  De 
partment  ;  and  when  Giddeon  Welles  employed  a  relative  at  a  great  remuneration  to  buy 
ships  the  scandal  was  not  that  he  paid  just  sums  to  a  relative,  but  that  he  paid  such 
sums  at  all.  Reverdy  Johnson,  Minister  to  England,  made  his  son  Assistant  Secretary  of 
Legation.  John  A.  Dix,  Minister  to  France,  did  the  same  thing  with  his  son.  All  this 
was  under  Andrew  Johnson,  but  when  a  drag  net  of  criticism  and  impeachment  was  cast 
over  him  these  things  were  not  caught  up. 

"  LIBERAL"  RELATIVES. 
The  rueful  "  reformers"    themselves   will    not  bear  examination   on    this    point.       Mr. 


569 

Schurz  pressed  his  brother-in-law  upon  the  President,  and  obtained  for  him  a  lucrative 
ofnce,  and  when  Mr.  1  rumbull  caused  his  removal  upon  statements  impeaching  his  fitness 
Mr.  bchurz  raged  against  the  President  for  removing  his  brother-in-law.  Mr  Trumbul! 
seems  to  have  procured  appointments  for  his  brother-in-law,  his  sons  and  his  nephew, 
and  he  broke,  it  is  said,  with  the  President  because  he  refused  to  appoint  Mr.  TrumbuH's 
son  to  an  office.  1  hat  shrill  and  frisky  "reformer,"  Mr.  Tipton,  although  not  colossaj 
himself,  would  need  a  hay  scales  to  be  weighed  along  with  all  his  relatives  he  has  helped 
to  get  olnc».  1  hree  brothers-in-law  a  nephew  and  a  son  in  office,  with  other  thin-s  f  >r 
other  relatives,  did  not  satisfy  his  "  liberal"  inclinations,  but  he  vigorously  plied  the 
President  and  the  Secretary  of  State  to  give  a  valuable  consulship  to  another  son  and 
after  they  declined  he  frequently  avowed— once  pipingly  to  the  President  himself— that 
the  refusal  was  the  cause  of  his  opposition.  Mr.  Fenton  saw  no  objection  to  giving  to 
his  adopted  son  his  influence  for  an  office,  nor  to  obtaining  it  from  Tammany  Hall,  and 
keeping  it  through  all  the  exposures  of  Tweed  and  the  rest,  although  no  service  was  at 
tached  to  it  equivalent  to  the  pay.  Mr.  Sumner,  with  a  brother-in-law  in  office  under 
Andrew  Johnson,  was  inflamed  by  his  removal,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  make  known  hi-, 
displeasure.  Even  Mr.  Greeley  did  not  scruple  to  countenance  his  brother-in-law  in 
obtaining  the  most  lucrative  collectorship  of  internal  revenue  in  the  United  States.  Nor 
has  he  hesitated  to  urge  appointments,  clearly  unfit,  on  the  ground  of  the  intimate 
terms  between  himself  and  those  he  urged. 

[Mr.  Conkling  then  goes  on  to  cite  cases  of  nepotism  on  the  part  of  Democratic  office 
holders — among  them  that  of  Governor  Hoffman,  wh<>.  when  Mayor  of  New  York,  caused 
the  appointment  of  his  fother-in-law,  Starkweather,  to  a  place  which  yielded  him  $561,- 
ooo  in  four  years.] 

P.ut  if  General  Grant  has  done  wrong,  the  crime  of  others  cannot  help  him.  Let  us 
look  into  his  case.  You  might  suppose  from  the  noise,  that  he  had  used  a  relative  as  a  peg 
for  every  hole  in  the  country,  and  that  he  had  put  round  pegs  in  square  holes,  and  square 
pegs  in  round  holes,  everywhere.  It  has  been  said  that  he  has  appointed  50  relatives,  40 
relatives,  30  relatives,  and  Mr.  Sumner  estimates  13  relatives,  to  office.  None  of  these 
statements  are  true.  Since  President  Grant  came  in,  but  nine  persons  in  all,  connected  in 
the  remotest  degree  with  him  or  with  his  wife,  have  held  political  office  under  the  United 
States. 

I  have  a  list  of  them,  and-do  not  speak  without  information.  Nine  is  the  total  num 
ber  in  political  office.  This  does  not  include  a  son  of  the  President,  sent  as  a  pupil  to  West 
Point,  long  before  his  father  became  President ;  nor  does  it  include  his  brother-in-law, 
Dent,  who  has  long  held  a  commission  in  the  army  by  the  same  tenure  under  which  Sher 
man  and  Sheridan,  and  every  other  officer  of  the  army  holds  his  place,  and  which  the  Pres 
ident  has  no  more  power  to  give  or  take  away  than  the  man  in  the  moon. 

Of  the  nine  relatives  or  connections  in  office,  two  were  appointed  by  Andrew  Johnson, 
viz.:  The  President's  father,  postmaster  at  Covington,  Ky.,  and  his  brother-in-law,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cramer,  Consul  to  Leipsic.  Mr.  Cramer  was  transferrred  from  Leipsic  to 
Denmark  by  President  Grant,  on  the  recommendation  of  Bishop  Simpson,  Bishop  Jaynes, 
and  many  other  well  known  persons,  friends  of  Mr.  Cramer.  Being  the  brother-in-law  of 
the  President,  he,  of  course  became  a  mark  for  "liberal"  abuse,  and  was  charged  with 
drinking  beer,  and  being  refused  the  membership  of  a  social  club. 

But  now  comes  the  Cincinnati  Methodist  Conference,  about  as  respectable  a  body  as 
has  met  in  Cincinnati  lately,  and  certifies  after  full  investigation,  the  utter  falsity  of  the 
charges.  Their  report  is  fortified  by  letters  from  Copenhagen,  and  by  statements  of  the 
official  journal  and  other  newspapers  there,  indignantly  repelling  the  aspersions  cast  at  Mr. 
Cramer,  and  pronouncing  him  a  blameless  officer  and  man. 

Deducting  Jesse  R.  Grant  and  M.  J.  Cramer,  appointed  by  Johnson,  seven  instance, 
of  relatives  appointed  to  political  affice  remain,  and  of  these  but  two  were  in  truth  and  in 
fact  abpointed  by  the  President  as  I  will  show  you. 

Orlando  H.  Ross,  a  cousin  of  the  President,  holds  a  clerkship,  under  the  third  Auditor 
of  the  Treasury.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war,  and  Gen.  Logan,  as  he  stated  in  Senate, 
procured  his  appointment  at  the  Treasury  Departnient  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Pres 
ident  who,  in  fact,  never  heard  of  it  until  he  read  it  in  a  newspaper.  This  leaves  six,  and 
of  these  four  hold  local  offices,  viz. :  George  W.  Dent,  Appraiser  at  San  Francisco  ;  James 
F.  Casey,  collector  at  New  Orleans  ;  one  a  brother  and  the  other  a  brother-in-law  of  Mrs. 
Grant ;  Peter  Casey,  Postmaster  at  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  a  brother  of  a  brother-in-law  of  Mrs. 
Grant;  and  George  B.  Johnson,  Assessor  of  the  third  District  of  Ohio,  who  married  a  third 
cousin  of  the  President.  These  men  hold  local  offices,  and  were  selected  and  put  forward, 
as  has  been  universal  in  both  political  parties  for  50  years,  by  the  local  Representatives. 

When  the  member  of  Congress  from  a  District  certifies  the  character  of  an  applicant 
for  a  post-office  or  any  other  office  local  in  his  district,  and  recommends  his  selection,  the 
practice  of  the  Government  has  always  been  to  rely  and  act  upon  such  representations, 
holding  the  member  of  Congress  responsible  to  the  Government  and  to  his  constituents,  if 
he  obtains  unfit  appointments. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  the  four  persons  just  named  were  selected,  the  President  hav 
ing  no  part  in  the  matter,  if  he  believed  the  applicant  fit  and  worthy,  except  to  consult  the 
wishes  of  the  people  made  known  through  their  representatives,  or  else  to  overrule  their 
wishes,  upon  the  grouud  that  it  might  be  better  for  himself  not  to  run  the  risk  of  having 
the  matter  some  time  or  other  flung  in  his  face. 


THE    STRUGGLE    OF     J2. 

Two  appointments  remain,  and  upon  these  the  President  did  undoubtedly  exercise  his 
own  choice  and  his  own  judgment. 

The  first  is  Alexander  Sharp,  a  connection  of  Mrs.  Grant,  who  was  appointed  Mar 
shal  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  This  officer  is  virtually  a  member  of  the  President's 
household — he  receives  company  with  the  family,  introduces  visitors,  and  generally  helps 
along.  For  these  reasons  some  relative  or  friend  of  the  President's  family  has  always  been 
found  for  this  position. 

The  remaining  relative  is  Silas  Hudson,  Minister  to  Guatemala.  He  is  cousin  to  the 
President.  Iowa,  the  Siate  in  which  he  lives,  had  the  mission  to  Guatemala  before  Presi 
dent  Grant  came  in  ;  Fitz  Henry  Warren  held  it ;  and  on  his  retirement  Iowa  claimed  it 
still,  and  presented  Mr.  Hudson,  who  is  described  as  an  able  and  accomplished  man.  The 
President  might  have  refused  to  appoint  him,  without  giving  just  offence  to  the  Republi 
cans  of  Iowa,  because  he  might  have  taken  a  man  from  some  other  State,  but  he  did  ap. 
point  him,  and  thus  he  furnished  the  needy  ''  Liberals"  with  one  awful  example. 


GREELEY    INELIGIBLE. 

Mr.  Greeley  is  assailed  on  all  sides,  but  the  latest  bit  of  gossip  is  furnished  by  a  dis 
patch  published  in  the  Boston  Traveler  to  the  effect  that  "  one  of  the  reasons  for  which 
Carl  Schurz  is  silent  on  the  Greeley  question  is  supposed  to  be  the  belief  on  his  part  that 
the  Axeman  of  Chappaqua  is  ineligible  to  office,  because  in  all  the  amnesty  bills  passed  by 
Congress  for  the  removal  of  political  disabilities,  the  name  of  Horace  Greeley  does  not 
appear.  His  voluntary  .advice  and  encouragement  which  he  gave  to  the  seceding  States, 
now  counts  against  him,  for  as  matters  stand  no  person  can  hold  any  office  whatsoever, 
who  can  not  make  oath  that  he  has  never  given  any  aid  or  countenance,  counsel  or  en 
couragement  to  parties  engaged  in  avowed  hostilities  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  he  has  never  yet  aided  or  voluntarily  supported  any  pretended  government, 
authority,  power  or  constitution  within  the  United  States,  hostile  or  inimical  thereto.  It 
is  well  known  that  Horace  Greeley  can  not,  without  perjury,  subscribe  to  such  an  oath, 
and  his  ineligibility  to  the  presidential  office  is  therefore  an  established  fact." 

A  DARKEY'S  VIEW  OF  THE  SITUATION. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial^  a  Greeley  organ,  traveling  in  Ken 
tucky,  interviewed  his  barber  on  the  political  situation,  with  the  following  result : 
Barber.     What  is  the  name  of  your  paper  ? 
Correspondent.      The  Commercial. 

B.  Oh,  yes  ;  I've  seen  that.     It's  a  Grant  paper,  ain't  it  ? 

C.  No,  it's  a  Greeley  paper. 

B.  Oh,  I  thought  it  was  Republican. 

C.  So  it  is. 

B.  What  ?  Republican  and  for  Greeley  ? 

C.  Certainly. 

B.  It  supported  Seymour,  didn't  it  ? 

C.  Not  at  all. 

B.  That  sounds  curious  to  me.      How  could  a  paper  be  against  Seymour  and  for 
Greeley  ? 

C.  Because  Seymour  was  a  Democrat. 

B.  Well,  so  is  Greeley. 

C.  You  are  much  mistaken  ;  Greeley  is  a  Republican. 

B.  (Looking amazed,  and  opening  his  eyes  as  big  as  shaving  mugs:)   I  don't  under 
stand  it  ;  I  can't  see  how  a  Republican  can  be  running  on  a  Democratic  ticket..     There  is 
something  loose  somewhere. 

C.  He  is  not  running  on  a  Democratic  ticket. 

B.  Then  the  Democrats  are  mightily  fooled,  for  they  think  he  is. 

C.  No,  indeed,  they  don't. 

B.  But  they  are  all  going  for  him  about  here.  Just  look  how  it  is  ;  every  Republican 
is  for  Grant,  and  every  Democrat  for  Greeley.  It  looks  to  me  like  he  is  running  the  same 
way  Seymour  did.  The  people  are  divided,  just  like  they  were  then,  only  in  place  of 
Seymour,  Greeley  has  come  out.  I  don't  know  anything  about  the  platform,  as  they  call 
it  ;  I  look  at  the  thing  just  as  it  is  before  thejpeople. 


THE  END. 


TURN 


CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

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